TRANSMISSION FOR THE TRANSITION: Don’t look now, but there’s a trio of bills on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that could put a significant dent in one of the biggest challenges of California’s energy transition: building transmission lines faster to get more renewables online.
A rare-bedfellows set of interests — utilities, labor, industry and enviros — came together to get them through the Legislature.
Transmission is a linchpin in California’s efforts to meet 2030 and 2045 renewable energy targets. The bills could shave more than two years off the 10 years it can take to plan, permit and build certain lines in California, backers say.
“There’s quite a lot going on under the hood, and it’s starting to roll up into a picture that’s promising and there’s coherence to it,” said Alex Jackson, director of American Clean Power-California, a renewable energy industry trade group, who was involved in the negotiations.
Other key members included Adam Smith, Southern California Edison’s principal manager of state public policy, and Marc Joseph, a longtime labor attorney who represents the Coalition of California Utility Employees. The group also included Assembly staffers, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Clean Air Task Force, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Manufacturers and Technology Association.
Talks started in the spring after AB 914 — a sweeping proposal to shorten California Environmental Quality Act reviews for electrical infrastructure projects — triggered deal-breaking concerns from environmentalists and others.
The group met regularly in the Capitol through the summer to hash out more palatable ways to speed up construction.
“We tend to get better results when we’re talking with each other, not at each other,” Jackson said.
It’s not a slam dunk that Newsom, who pushed his own infrastructure streamlining package through the state budget process this summer, will sign all of them.
Supporters are worried about rumored California Public Utilities Commission opposition to SB 619, by Sen. Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista), which would give utilities the option to get CEQA reviews from the Energy Commission instead of the CPUC and limit the reviews to 270 days. (The CPUC and Newsom’s office declined to comment.)
But backers are optimistic and looking toward next year. They’re hoping to get legislative support for things like updating the grid’s capacity to provide real-time information about power flows and line capacities.
“Our hope is we take all we’ve done this session and use it as a catapult for conversations informing the next legislative session,” said Emilie Olson, a senior policy principal with Advanced Energy United, a trade group that represents renewable energy companies and customers that wasn’t part of the discussion group but advocated for the bills.
The other bills are:
— SB 420, from Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), which would exempt certain smaller transmission projects from a specific PUC permit that Becker said — based on SCE data — typically takes about 2.2 years to obtain.
The bill would exempt new projects as well as grid upgrades to handle increased load from electric vehicles.
— AB 1373, from Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), which would eliminate the need for two different agencies — the PUC and the California Independent System Operator — to independently determine that any given transmission project is needed. The bill would allow CAISO’s determination to suffice unless challenged. You may remember this bill from its marquee provision to allow the state to buy offshore wind energy on behalf of electricity customers.
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NEMETH’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS: We’re in great shape entering the new water year: Reservoir levels are in some cases double their averages, and it’s an El Niño year, which are historically wetter than usual.
But the state is still grappling with the effects of climate change this year. Water managers need to know how much precipitation to expect in order to mete out supplies to farms and cities, but forecasting science is still rudimentary — and is further complicated by climate-induced variability.
“The suddenness, the shift from very extreme dry to very extreme wet is something that needs additional research,” said Karla Nemeth, the director of the Department of Water Resources.
Here’s what Nemeth said she learned from last year’s record-breaking water year:
— “People are ready for recharge, particularly in the Central Valley.”
After years of drought and overtapping underground supplies, local water officials jumped on the opportunity to divert some floodwaters underground. The exact numbers won’t come out for months, but state officials are calling the effort a success while acknowledging a continued need for more funding and coordination.
— “There is an enormous value to regional flood planning, even simply as a communication tool for smaller communities.”
Tulare Lake reemerged in an area that had opted out of statewide flood planning, leading to confusion, competition and crumbling infrastructure.
— “Mother Nature really helped us out.”
The “Big Melt” could have swamped downstream communities, but didn’t because the snow didn’t melt all at once, she said. “We can’t expect that necessarily again.”
MONEY, MEET MOUTH: A report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council dings California’s transportation spending on climate grounds.
It found that across 10 key programs spanning 2019 to 2027, only 18.6 percent of $22.4 billion in state transportation spending went toward things like bike lanes, sidewalks, mass transit and affordable housing that reduce car reliance. Another 9.7 percent went to projects like highway expansions that encourage more driving. And the majority, 71.7 percent, went to maintenance projects which will not move the needle in either direction.
The study comes on the heels of another report last week from NextGen Policy that noted how car dependency in the state is increasing thanks to highway expansion. That’s in spite of the California Air Resources Board’s goal to reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled 25 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2045 in order to meet emissions reductions targets.
(It also comes on the heels of Caltrans official Jeanie Ward-Waller’s allegations that the agency is using road-maintenance funds to expand highways.)
The NRDC report has several recommendations to align transportation funding with climate goals, including discontinuing funding for projects that increase vehicle miles traveled, converting projects with no impact on car dependency to ones that help reduce it, and being more transparent with data about projects under development.
— Newsom is traveling to China this month. So are Sens. Chuck Schumer, Mike Crapo, Bill Cassidy, John Kennedy, Maggie Hassan and Jon Ossoff.
— Arizona won’t renew below-market leases for a Saudi Arabian company that’s been pumping groundwater to grow and export alfalfa.
— California added 2.1 gigawatts of utility-scale solar last year, second only to Texas.
