California OKs new transmission for renewables
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the utility's proposal to build another 173 miles of new transmission line. The entire line will cover 250 miles and cost $1.96 billion, the utility said.
Once completed in 2014, the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project expects to move up to 4,500 megawatts of renewable energy generation to Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties from Kern County, enough to power 3 million homes.
Southern California Edison, part of Edison International, had won approval to build 77 miles of the project, most of which it expects to be on line by the end of 2009.
The utility has contracts for up to 1,800 megawatts of wind power in the Tehachapi region in Kern County.
California has the some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the United States, with a target to get a third of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
A major hurdle is a lack of transmission lines needed to move electricity from remote areas where solar, wind and other renewable power is produced to cities where it is consumed.
Related News
Overturning statewide vote, Maine court energizes Hydro-Quebec's bid to export power
BANGOR - Maine's highest court on Tuesday breathed new life into a $1-billion US transmission line that aims to serve as conduit for Canadian hydropower, ruling that a statewide vote rebuking the project was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the retroactive nature of the referendum last year violated the project developer's constitutional rights, sending it back to a lower court for further proceedings.
The court did not rule in a separate case that focuses on a lease for a 1.6-kilometre portion of the proposed power line that crosses state land.
Central Maine Power's parent company and Hydro-Québec teamed up on the…
