“We want to continue to put this issue in front of policymakers,” he said. “It’s a down-in-the-weeds, energy-nerd issue. But the devil’s in the details — and these kinds of details are snarling the system.”
My take
Transmission is one of those problems that puts politicians in a bind, particularly at a time of rising utility costs. Nobody wants a big power line in their backyard. And while the long-term benefits of expanding transmission grids are well proven, building them does impose near-term costs on utility customers. But failing to tackle the barriers to building more transmission in the 2010s is what has led to the current clean energy logjam across much of the country. If we don’t want to face even worse logjams 10 years down the line, we’d better get to work now.
What else I’m watching
Last week, I wrote a story about Newsom’s unexpected decision to sign into law a series of bills aimed at making virtual power plants a bigger part of the state’s grid. Senate Bill 905 and Senate Bill 913 instruct state utility and energy regulators to create pathways for rooftop solar–charged batteries, EV chargers, smart thermostats, controllable appliances, and other devices that Californians are buying and installing in homes and businesses to help reduce the cost of meeting growing electricity demand on the state’s overburdened power grid. For an outgoing governor who vetoed a bunch of VPP bills last year, it’s a welcome change. So is Newsom’s signature on SB 868, which means California is the latest state to make DIY solar systems, known as balcony solar, street legal, so to speak.
California, bulwark of clean vehicle rules
California just filed its latest legal challenge against the Trump administration’s assault on the state’s vehicle emissions and fuel economy regulations. Friday’s lawsuit from Attorney General Rob Bonta and 26 states, counties, and cities is in response to new rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that would sharply reduce federal fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. California has also filed suit to block efforts by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to rescind the state’s legal authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards and mandate the end of sales of gasoline-fueled vehicles in the state by 2035.
The lawsuits underscore California’s outsize role in setting vehicle standards that influence the U.S. market as a whole. A legal victory for the state won’t just protect its own residents. As my colleagues Wendy Becktold and Ysabelle Kempe wrote, the Trump administration’s own assessment finds that its plan to gut fuel economy standards means consumers will pay more for fuel than the estimated savings on the new, less-efficient cars.
Transmission timeline, anyone?
Wondering just how long it takes to build a new transmission line, and how many of them actually get built? This chart from a 2025 report by the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office tracks the status of transmission projects approved since 2000. As you can see, just under half of those projects have actually been built and turned on since then.
California Wire get-together in Oakland and Canary Live Bay Area!
Do you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Do you read California Wire? Do you want to chat with me and also meet other people who share your California energy and climate interests? On Wednesday, Oct. 14, at around 6 p.m., I’ll be hanging out with Canary Media Managing Editor Wendy Becktold at Drake’s Dealership in downtown Oakland. (Drake’s is a great brewpub with outdoor seating, not a used-car lot, in case you were wondering.) It’ll be a super-casual affair, with great food, great drinks, and great conversation. Come on by!
You can also catch me, along with many climate and energy luminaries, at our much bigger Canary Live Bay Area event on Nov. 10 in Berkeley. Hope to see you there!
One more thing
This weekend, my wife and I went to all three days of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, held annually in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Man, what a lineup! We caught Tyler Ballgame, Los Lobos, My Morning Jacket, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Rilo Kiley, Jesse Welles, and, to close out a perfect weekend, Robert Plant with a truly majestic power folk backing band. Lily the corgi doesn’t like crowds, so we left her at home. She was not happy about that, as you can see from our parting photo on Saturday morning. (We do love to see her pop up in our front door window to greet us when we get home, though.)
