San Diego Gas & Electric Company
At a Glance
Industry
Energy or Utility
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Climate Justice/Energy Equity
Year
2024
Location
San Diego, CA
Summary
Emma Schuster identified federal permitting barriers to large-scale electric transmission projects in the West and provided recommendations for SDG&E to reduce the impact these obstacles have on future projects in the region.Goals
San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) is tasked with building and maintaining a clean, safe, and reliable grid. California's climate goal - to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 - is expected to cause electricity demand to grow by 76%, increasing the need for large-scale transmission lines, which can take a decade-plus to be operational. SDG&E's territory covers many tribal and federally owned lands, making the necessary federal permitting process for these large transmission lines a potential bottleneck to meeting state and federal goals. To prepare for future grid infrastructure projects, SDG&E enlisted Emma Schuster to study federal permitting barriers, identify the biggest obstacles to building transmission projects, and provide recommendations to ensure SDG&E is prepared to meet increased transmission needs.Solutions
Emma approached the challenge through three main avenues:
- Researching permitted large-scale transmission projects in similar regions to understand what specific federal permits caused the most significant delays in project timelines. By digging into National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental documents for multiple projects, Emma provided insight into which federal permits could delay future SDG&E large-scale transmission projects.
- Combing through proposed permitting reform strategies to determine promising policies SDG&E could advocate for, along with determining what internal and community engagement strategies would be helpful to reduce transmission project timelines. Turning to think tanks, academic papers, and news sources, Emma used her policy expertise to recommend specific strategies that will SDG&E reduce permitting timelines.
- Interviewing internal SDG&E environmental and regulatory team members to understand their experience with the federal permitting process for past SDG&E projects. To verify her own research findings, Emma asked questions about what permits were the most difficult to obtain and what would have been helpful to streamline the process.Potential Impact
Emma's recommendations will help SDG&E prepare to build large-scale transmission projects, advocate for necessary policy changes, and ultimately reduce the time projects take from planning to operational stages. This will position SDG&E to better meet state climate goals while delivering clean, affordable, and reliable electricity to their customers.
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