California Approves $6.1 Billion Broadcast Plan

California’s grid manager on Thursday approved a $6.1 billion plan to boost transmission, as well as a project to connect a massive transmission line that will bring wind power to the state.

The California Independent System Operator’s board of governors has approved Pattern Energy’s application to connect the SunZia line to the California grid, a key step in its long-term renewable energy project. The 850-kilometer transmission line will be able to transmit 3,000 megawatts of power from New Mexico to Arizona, where a substation will direct power to California.

The approval marks a major milestone for the SunZia line, which was first proposed in 2006 and has become a poster child for delays in major transmission projects. The line, which began construction last year after receiving federal approval, is being built next to a 3,500-MW wind farm in New Mexico.

This is the second project to gain approval under the program aimed at facilitating interstate transmission; the first was the TransWest Express project, which is expected to deliver up to 3,000 MW of Wyoming wind power to California and other Western states. The program allows the transmission developer to transfer operational control to the ISO and then connect out-of-state generation to the California system.

Cameron Yourkowski, Pattern Energy’s director of market and regulatory affairs, said in a statement that the program “is a truly innovative transmission development policy that I hope will gain traction across the country.”

The board separately approved the 2023-2024 Transmission Plan, which recommends 26 new projects to help add 85,000 megawatts of clean energy generating capacity by 2035. The plan is the first step in a long process that will likely take years of environmental permitting for large transmission projects to come to fruition and construction finishing.

It includes a number of projects aimed at integrating wind energy from California’s northern coast. They include two transmission lines leading from a substation near the state’s northern border: a 260-mile line connecting to a substation southwest of Sacramento and a 240-mile line running east into the interior of the state.

Other transmission projects outlined in the plan would connect the state with wind projects in New Mexico, Idaho, Wyoming and Arizona.

“We have worked diligently to find new and creative ways to improve the transmission infrastructure we know will be needed to deliver all the additional energy delivered to the Internet to consumers over the next two decades,” ISO President Elliot Mainzer said in a statement. “We are improving regional interconnection and reliability in the most cost-effective way for California and our partners in the region.”

California law requires 100 percent of electricity to come from clean energy by 2045.

The plan initiates a competitive solicitation process for two projects on the North Coast and authorizes cost recovery for all identified projects, subject to regulatory approval.

According to California ISO documents, the transmission lines identified in the report would enable the generation of more than 38,000 MW of solar energy across the state, 3,000 MW of domestic wind generation and more than 2,000 MW of geothermal energy. The plan would also support the import of over 5,600 MW of wind energy from other Western countries and 4,700 MW of offshore wind energy.

Molly Croll, director of Pacific offshore wind at the American Clean Power Association, praised the grid operator for its “thoughtful inclusion of offshore wind” in its transmission plan, which she said is a “significant step toward building California’s first offshore wind projects.” .

“Offshore wind is a reliable and essential source of clean energy to reduce the impacts of climate change and achieve 100% clean energy in California. We look forward to continuing to work with CAISO and the state to accelerate transmission planning for offshore wind,” Croll said in a statement.