Senator Padilla’s Legislation to Accelerate and Modernize California’s Aging Grid Passes Assembly Floor

SACRAMENTO – Today, Senator Steve Padilla’s (D-San Diego) legislation to accelerate California’s efforts to approve energy transmission projects, Senate Bill 619, passed the Assembly Floor with bipartisan support.

“California’s climate goals are some of the most ambitious in the world, but our ability to move clean electrons hasn’t changed in decades,” said Senator Padilla. “We cannot rely on the grid of our grandparents to power the future of our grandchildren. We can create all of the clean energy we want, but we need a grid capable of getting clean power to consumers.”

California’s demand for energy is rising sharply as the state transitions away from gas-powered vehicles and towards electric cars, increasing strain on a grid that was developed for the needs of the previous century. As the state’s supply of energy expands to include new clean sources, it is vital that the power generated not stall behind a bottleneck of inadequate infrastructure.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. energy system a "C-" grade on its 2021 infrastructure report card. The report made a series of policy recommendations to raise the grade, including consolidating national and state permitting processes so new transmission and delivery lines can be funded and built faster, create jobs earlier, and harden the grid against the growing impacts of climate change.

California will need to spend billions in new transmission infrastructure investments in the coming years to meet our existing targets. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) estimates California will require thousands of megawatts of new transmission capacity every year during that time. Meeting this unprecedented demand will require California to simultaneously accelerate planning, siting, permitting, and construction of a modern electrical grid, while carefully managing its costs. 

Despite the overwhelming need to expand our electrical grid, the California Public Utilities Commission takes close to 7 years, on average, to approve new projects. The current process requires multiple agencies, duplicative analyses, and permitting processes that take years to complete and create unnecessary cost overruns and substantial delays. 

Current transmission projects are delayed by almost 5 years and have run up tens of millions of dollars in extra costs. Absent substantial changes to the state’s current planning and permitting processes, California will not meet its visionary climate goals and the state’s fragile energy grid will experience unprecedented strain.

SB 619 would expand upon last year’s AB 205 authorizing the California Energy Commission (CEC) to certify transmission projects in California.

The measure is a piece of much larger and overdue conversation happening throughout the state on how California can meet its climate goals, deliver reliable power to homes and businesses, manage costs and add transparency to modernizing California’s electrical grid.

The coalition supporting SB 619 spans across many sectors of the California economy with labor organizations and business leaders, environmental organizations and energy producers alike, all eager to see California modernize its grid. Supporters of the measure include the Natural Resource Defense Council, Clean Power Campaign, Sothern California Edison, the California State Association of Electrical Workers, the California Chamber of Commerce, Clean Air Task Force, Independent Energy Producers Association, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

“SB 619  is the session’s most important legislative reform proposal to expedite and streamline the regulatory approvals and permitting for badly needed new and expanded  electric transmission lines, to deliver clean, renewable energy to power California’s electric grid,” said V. John White, Legislative Director for Clean Power Campaign.

SB 619 advanced from the Assembly Floor by a vote of 57 to 0. The bill now heads to the Senate for a final concurrence vote.

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Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/