Edison Gets OK for Power Project
Southern California Edison Co. has won preliminary approval to build a high-voltage transmission line that would bring enough electricity from Arizona to serve 900,000 Southland homes while providing savings for ratepayers.
The California Independent System Operator, the agency that runs much of the state’s electricity grid, said Friday that it had OKd what would be the first major expansion of SoCal Edison’s power transmission system in 15 years.
The utility is a unit of Edison International of Rosemead.
The $680-million project still needs approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, the Arizona Department of Corporations and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
If built, the 230-mile line will bring as much as 1,200 megawatts of power produced by efficient gas-turbine generators from the Palo Verde area west of Phoenix to Palm Springs beginning in 2009.
The new line should save consumers money by removing transmission bottlenecks, boosting supplies, lowering prices and reducing the ability of power generators to manipulate the market as some did during California’s energy crisis of 2000-01, said James Sweeney, an energy expert at Stanford University.
“Adequate transmission capacity is important for staving off the possibility of future crises,” Sweeney said.
Cal-ISO estimates that the Palo Verde-Devers 2 line could save California ratepayers an average of $84 million during most years.
Annual savings could grow to $350 million if the cost of electricity from other sources rises because of a shortage of hydropower or a jump in natural gas prices.
“This project brings terrific benefits to the people of California and particularly those in Southern California, where the demand for electricity is growing at a rapid pace,” said Ken Wiseman, chairman of Cal-ISO’s board of governors.
Initial approval of the Palo Verde project comes just two months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger inaugurated the $250-million Path 15 line upgrade between Southern and Northern California.
Path 15, which runs up the San Joaquin Valley, allows surplus power in the south to be shipped north during regional shortfalls.
Peak power consumption in the San Francisco Bay Area usually occurs in June, and demand in the Los Angeles area jumps in September, according to the California Energy Commission.
The Palo Verde line would supplement seven existing lines now bringing 8,055 megawatts to California from Arizona.
The new supplies would be available to serve most markets in the state, Cal-ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle said.
Spending on the Palo Verde project is one component in a planned $11-billion upgrade by SoCal Edison of all transmission and distribution facilities throughout its 50,000-square-mile service area.
Shares of Edison International rose 67 cents to $32.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.
