California Senate advances bill to expedite transmission projects, modernize electricity grid

As California ramps up renewable energy production to meet statewide climate goals, new legislation is aiming to expedite the integration of equipment that shuttles electricity from point A to point B.

The state Senate voted 36-0 to approve SB 619, a bill that would expand the California Energy Commission’s authority to certify and prioritize transmission projects on the agency’s agenda.

“This could cut years off the regulatory review and approval process for substantial transmission investment projects,” the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Steve Padilla (D), told The Hill in a recent interview.

The legislation would build on last year’s AB 205, which authorized the commission to certify and prioritize transmission projects that cost more than $250 million and carry electricity from renewable energy facilities to a system interconnection juncture.

But SB 619 would broaden the types of transmission lines eligible for certification to include those lines that convey electricity to and from other facilities — regardless of their proximity to an interconnection point.

“My bill seeks to expand that second lane, into new territory,” Padilla said. “We need to provide more than one avenue here.”

Prior to the passage of last year’s AB 205, there was only one path toward getting transmission infrastructure approved in California — through the California Public Utilities Commission, the state senator explained.

At the same time, however, the commission hasn’t authorized a major new transmission project in nearly a decade, according to Padilla.

AB 205 enabled certain facilities — those with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more and worth at least $250 million — to receive priority certification from a different state agency, the California Energy Commission. But these projects must have a direct link to grid interconnection points.

Recognizing that AB 205 has helped relieve traffic “a little bit,” Padilla said that his bill would further unclog the transmission bottleneck.

Like its predecessor, SB 619 would apply to facilities like solar photovoltaic, wind or stationary thermal power plants with a generation capacity of 50 megawatts or more.

Also covered in the bill are transmission lines linked to any of these sites, as well as energy storage systems that can hold at least 200 megawatt-hours of electricity.

Applicants would likewise need to guarantee a capital investment of at least $250 million that would be made over a five-year period.

But where SB 619 diverges from AB 205 is that facilities could qualify “regardless of whether the electricity is carried to a point of junction with any interconnected electrical transmission system,” according to the bill’s text.

“What SB 619 does, it says we’re going to expand that second path for qualifying projects that are transmission related,” Padilla said. “It expands to general low transmission beyond just interconnection projects.”

SB 619 will next head to California’s state Assembly for consideration.

Padilla introduced the bill in February, at the time emphasizing the grid’s “dire need of modernization.” The legislation then passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee at the end of April and the Senate Appropriations Committee in mid-May.

“Dedicated efforts to develop new transmission lines are a critical part of our clean energy future,” he said in a statement, when he introduced the bill in February.

While Padilla applauded state leadership for enacting some of the most aggressive climate goals worldwide, he also warned that fulfilling those goals will necessitate a more resilient electricity grid.

“The current process requires multiple agencies, duplicative analyses, and permitting processes that take years to complete,” a statement from his office said.

California needs more than $30 billion in new transmission systems in the next two decades to meet statewide climate targets, his office explained, citing a 2022 analysis from the California Independent System Operator.

A recent report conducted by the data analytics firm Kevala raised these estimates even higher — concluding that California could need to invest as much as $50 billion in grid updates over the next 12 years.

Nonetheless, projects are facing delays of nearly five years and have amassed tens of millions of dollars in extra costs, while leaving California’s “fragile energy grid” vulnerable to “unprecedented strain,” the February statement warned.

“We are already behind the eight ball in terms of upgrade and rethinking, redesigning, rebuilding the grid,” Padilla told The Hill.

That redesign must be able to handle not only increased capacity, but also geographical changes and shifts in “the way we get energy to people,” according to Padilla.

“My bottom line again is we need to start thinking out of the box,” he said, noting ongoing delays are driving up consumer costs. “We really have to think about providing more than one path.”