Governor Gavin Newsom last Friday pledged to fast-track hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of construction projects throughout the state, including a pair of large water endeavors that have languished for years amid permitting delays and opposition from environmental groups. Newsom is seeking a slew of changes to make it much faster for these projects to gain the required permits and approvals. Other projects that could be eligible include solar, wind, and battery power storage; transit and regional rail; road maintenance and bridge projects; semiconductor plants; and wildlife crossings along Interstate 15, Newsom’s office said. His efforts to speed projects would not apply to building more housing.
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) on May 18 approved a $7.3 billion plan to build the thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines the state needs to hit its climate goals. CAISO’s plan seeks to address a clean energy challenge plaguing the entire nation, not just California: There’s not enough transmission to connect the massive amount of new clean energy being developed to the grid. In California, CAISO has already had to postpone processing newer interconnection requests to handle its existing backlog — and much greater amounts of clean power are on order from state regulators.
A U.S. district judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to overturn the environmental review of the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and halt it with an injunction over allegations of future harm to the North American right whale. Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts ruled Wednesday that the advocacy group Nantucket Residents Against Turbines failed to demonstrate that the wellbeing of the endangered species wasn’t sufficiently taken into account by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and National Marine Fisheries Service when permitting the project.
A renewable energy power line in southern New Mexico, connecting a windfarm with western markets in Arizona and California, received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management last Thursday, with construction expected to begin this summer. The SunZia Transmission project will send up to 3,000 MW of electricity generated by a windfarm in New Mexico to a facility in southern Arizona. From there, the energy could be used in nearby urban markets or sent further west into California.
Peninsula Clean Energy, a community choice aggregation agency, has reached a 15-year deal to exclusively receive 45 MW of battery storage from a four-hour lithium-ion battery project that Terra-Gen will develop near Barstow in San Bernardino County. The energy storage facility is part of a larger redevelopment of the existing SEGS VIII solar thermal project, which is expected to be operational in June 2024.
BMW has partnered with Pacific Gas & Electric to test out vehicle-to-X (V2X) technologies, while fellow carmaker Volvo has invested in a bi-directional charging solutions provider. With 40% of all EVs in the U.S. thought to be on California roads, the state makes a good test bed for the different use cases that make up V2X, with a senior PG&E representative stating that V2X can be used to create virtual power plants.
Amid pushback from nearby residents, Santa Fe County is enlisting outside help for review of AES Corp.’s proposal to build a large solar development south of Santa Fe. This could add months to the county’s land use approval process. The facility would generate 96 MW of power and include a 48 MW battery energy storage system along with a 2-acre substation onsite, according to application materials.
Arevon Energy has completed its Eagle Shadow Mountain Solar Plant. Located on the Moapa River Indian Reservation in Clark County, Nevada, the 300 MW project is expected to generate more than 900,000 MWh of clean electricity per year. NV Energy entered into a long-term power purchase agreement for the project’s output.
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