California Current
By Elizabeth McCarthy
The Senate Energy Utilities & Commerce Committee approved legislation seeking to speed up the decarbonization of the grid, including by picking up the pace of transmission upgrades to accommodate higher levels of fossil-free energy.
SB 887 by Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo) aims to advance grid modernization by extending the electricity planning horizons of the California Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission from 10 to 15-years. It also would require approval of at least one of the 23 projects proposed in the California Independent System Operator’s 2022-23 transmission plan. The nearly two dozen projects would cost an estimated $3 billion.
“We can’t get to 100 percent clean energy without needed transmission,” Becker told the committee March 28. The measure also seeks to avoid continued reliance on gas-fired power plants because of transmission bottlenecks.