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The California grid operator approved spending $2.9 billion for 23 transmission projects in its 2022-23 plan, which largely aims to help decarbonize the grid.

The plan assumes increased grid demand from the electrification of cars, buses and other large vehicles, and buildings to help the state become zero carbon by 2045.

CAISO’s new plan estimates there will be 2,700 megawatts of new resources next year, which is well above the estimated 1,000 MW of new resources deemed needed each year in the previous yearly transmission blueprint. The 2022-23 roadmap assumes 1,055 MW of gas-fired generation will be shut down, grid operator spokesperson Anne Gonzales said. In addition, more aging coastal power plants and the 2,200 MW Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant are slated for retirement in 2024-25.

State regulators ordered utilities, community energy, and other providers to bring unprecedented amounts of new resources online, including 11.5 gigawatts of clean energy by mid-decade.

The grid operator's $3 billion plan estimate is in stark contrast to average transmission costs of $215 million over five years.

“These resource requirements, on the path to total grid decarbonization, will demand increased volumes of solar photovoltaic resources and battery storage, as well as greater resource diversity beyond those resource types,” the 383-page plan states.

The plan was welcomed by many, including utilities and community aggregators.

Pacific Gas & Electric said it does a good job balancing short- and long-term needs and issues. The plan’s outlined projects will require additional study, coordination and collaboration, said spokesperson Paul Doherty. He added that “the planning efforts are highly valuable for policymakers, grid planners, and stakeholders to ensure electric reliability for customers as we move towards a clean energy future."

East Bay Community Energy stressed that awarded projects need to be completed on budget and on time. The high voltage projects are integral to interconnecting the new generation and storage it and other aggregators are developing and “so desperately needed as we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California,” said EBCE Vice President of Public Policy Melissa Brandt.

This is the first annual transmission plan released since the California Independent System Operator’s first-ever 20-year plan to build, upgrade and revamp the high voltage system at an estimated $30 billion cost. The long-term plan projected the need to accommodate 120 GW of additional green power, including more geothermal energy, out-of-state wind, and for the first time offshore wind.

The unprecedented 20-year plan assumes 53 GW will come from utility-scale solar, 37 GW from battery storage, 4 GW from storage that lasts eight hours or longer, 24 GW from wind, 2 GW from geothermal, with 15 GW of gas plants retired. It includes supply redundancies, largely to make up for gaps from intermittent solar and wind power, to meet a whopping projected peak load of 83.4 GW by 2040.

Next year’s “plan is part of our ongoing commitment to resource adequacy and transmission sufficiency in California,” ISO President and CEO Elliot Mainzer, said in a March 17 statement.

Of the nearly two dozen transmission projects, the 2022-23 plan highlights Southern California Edison’s Antelope 66 kV upgrade and two high voltage DC projects in the San Francisco South Bay region, which are to mainly serve the Silicon Valley-San Jose area. All three are to accommodate renewable growth. SCE’s Antelope upgrade, estimated to cost $55 million, will include replacing 41 66 kV circuit breakers, 101 66 kV ground disconnect switches, and about 45 66 kV transformers in just under four years, according to SCE.

Other projects to expand grid capacity include a new 500/230 kV at the Manning substation to access renewable generation in Westlands and a new 500/230 kV substation in Collinsville in the East Bay area to access wind resources. A 2.7 GW Westlands solar farm across 20,000 acres is slated for the San Joaquin Valley. The first project, 250 MW of solar arrays, was completed in December.

There also is a reinforcement project in the GridLiance/Valley Electric System service territory. Nevada electric cooperative Valley Electric sold its 160 miles of 230-kV transmission lines to the independent electric transmission company GridLiance in 2017.

Now that the 2022-23 plan has been approved, contractual agreements and cost recovery for transmission upgrades through ISO transmission rates will move ahead, according to CAISO.