EA-1752: Draft Environmental Assessment

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) Compression Testing Phase Project, San Joaquin County, California

This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of DOE providing a financial assistance grant based on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to PG&E in a cooperative agreement between PG&E and DOE. The project is co-funded by the federal DOE, California Public Utilities Commission, and the California Energy Commission. If PG&E receives the funding, the company proposes construction, operation, and closure of an injection and withdrawal well, and associated temporary site facilities required to conduct compression testing of a depleted gas field. The geological formation to be tested is located on King Island, San Joaquin County, California. The project would consist of pressure testing a CAES reservoir to further examine and confirm the geological suitability of the site and provide more detailed information for project engineering for possible future use as a CAES facility. The total cost of the compression-testing component of the project would be approximately $20 to $25 million.