Advertisement

California bills could speed up power line construction to meet clean electricity demand

Weaning the state’s electricity system off fossil fuels will require thousand of miles of new long-distance power lines, state agencies say. But years of permitting delays, studies and lawsuits mean a single line can take a decade to build.

A pair of bills introduced by state lawmakers aim to speed construction of new high-voltage power lines, or transmission, that experts say will help renewable energy connect to the electrical grid and meet growing demand.

“California’s power grid is over 100 years old. It’s time to both modernize it and cut the time it takes to get power to areas where demand is growing quickly,” said Senator Josh Becker (D-San Mateo). “We can’t come close to meeting our energy goals unless we build more transmission.”

The bill authored by Becker directs Gov. Gavin Newsom to identify a lead agency that will monitor transmission of clean energy, designating certain power lines as “environmental leadership development projects.”

That designation limits the time a project can be tied up in litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to 270 days. Proponents say the bill, SB-420, which also eliminates the need for an economic review of projects, can alleviate the transmission logjam.

Another bill, introduced by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), would allow the California Energy Commission to grant expedited approval for projects that involve a capital investment of at least $250 million over five years.

Padilla said the measure, SB-619, builds on a law passed last year that expedited approvals for new clean energy projects to connect to the grid. His proposal would give that same regulatory boost to regional transmission projects.

“We’re providing a sort of regulatory HOV lane here,” he said. “We’re not saying you can drive against traffic on the freeway. We’re saying we’re going to provide a process that’s transparent, clear, meets requirements and helps us actually implement what we say what we’re going to do.”

Highways of heavy wires

It took just two years, plus hundreds of men and mules, to build California’s earliest long-distance power lines nearly a century ago. Now, transmission faces a six-to-ten-year journey through the state’s regulatory system.

Each line is blueprinted by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) based on electricity demand projected by the Energy Commission, then planned by the state’s Independent System Operator (ISO). Environmental and permitting reviews can take four or five years alone. Researchers have also pointed to years-long wait times for a solar or wind farm to connect to the grid.

If the grid were a network of roads, transmission lines would be highways. Miles of heavy wires held aloft by steel towers pick up electrons from power plants in far-off places with enough space for a solar farm, for example, and carry them to population centers.

Apart from a couple projects and plenty of upgrades, California has not built long-distance transmission lines in decades. Yet climate change is driving an increased demand for electricity as homes and businesses switch to electric vehicles and home heating.

The ISO predicted peak demand will nearly double by 2040, just as renewable energy becomes a dominant source of electricity to reduce carbon emissions and meet its goal to supply 100% clean energy by 2045.

Nearly 33% of the grid’s energy supply last year came from wind and solar, which are less available during evening periods of peak demand when wind is scarce. That dynamic has left the grid stressed during periods of high demand in recent years, such as during last summer’s heat wave when Californians experienced threats of rolling blackouts.

As more renewable energy and battery storage comes online, state regulators agree that more transmission is needed fast. The ISO has not offered a specific estimate for how many miles of long-distance power line will be necessary, but several agencies project the grid will need to roughly triple its transmission capacity by 2050.

The proposed legislation is similar to reforms happening at the federal level as states across the country work to meet clean energy goals. Climate policy experts, such as Michael Wara at Stanford University, argue that California should be joining forces with neighboring states, as a recent report to the legislature suggested.

“If we are going to achieve our clean electricity goals and our climate goals we need to, more or less, more than double the rate of transmission build out,” Wara said. “And these measures are great steps in that direction. But they’re not the end. Not even close.”

Transmission projects have a history of opposition from environmental advocates for endangered species, tribal lands or national parks. Limiting legal opposition and granting more executive power also opens up the door to opposition from local governments or community groups.

Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at UC Berkeley School of Law, said assurances to the public are needed to make sure fast tracking authority is being granted for critical renewable energy transmission lines and not “favors for well-heeled interests.”

“Both of these proposals are potentially significant in expediting transmission deployment, which is one of the major bottlenecks preventing us from meeting our electricity grid decarbonization goals,” he said.

“The key is that we have to speed up transmission for renewable energy specifically, not building lines that could prop up fossil fuel power plants around the country.”