California Legislature Passes Senator Padilla’s Legislation to Accelerate and Modernize California’s Aging Grid
SACRAMENTO – Today, in a move to modernize California’s aging energy infrastructure, the Senate passed Senate Bill 619, Senator Steve Padilla’s (D-San Diego) legislation to accelerate California’s efforts to approve energy transmission projects.
“We cannot rely on the grid of our grandparents to power our grandchildren’s future. This is an important step towards ensuring we are able to achieve the energy goals we have worked so hard to set,” said Senator Padilla. “Modernizing our grid will help California bridge the gap between our fossil fuel past and our carbon-free future.”
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. These delays have added tens of millions of dollars in additional costs and absent substantial changes to the state’s current planning and permitting processes, California will not have the infrastructure in place in time to support its visionary climate and energy goals.
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.
“Thank you Senator Steve Padilla for authoring SB 619. This common sense bill will help move clean energy forward in California,” said Dan Jacobson, Senior Advisor for Environment California. “SB 619 will help ensure that we have more wind and solar power to help power our homes and businesses in California. We look forward to working with the Senator on this and other key issues.”
SB 619 advanced from the Senate by a vote of 39 to 0. The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk to be signed into law.
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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/