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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Executives at Edison International (NYSE:EIX) (Rosemead, California) and its subsidiary, Southern California Edison (SCE), are maintaining a positive outlook for 2021, despite dire warnings about California's emerging wildfire season. As of last weekend, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), fires within the state already had torched 18 square miles more when compared with the same time last year.
In recent years, wildfires have devastated California's electricity grid through the destruction of highly vulnerable transmission lines. But Edison executives are emphasizing recent improvements to utility equipment that made 2019 and 2020's wildfires far less damaging to the state's power system than those in 2017 and 2018.
"The utility is accelerating the pace of covered conductor deployment and expects to install at least 1,000 additional circuit miles by year-end," said Pedro Pizarro, the chief executive officer of Edison, in a recent earnings-related conference call. "At this pace, SCE will have hardened over 2,500 miles, or over 25% of all its overhead distribution infrastructure in high fire risk areas, substantially reducing the risk of wildfires associated with utility equipment."
Industrial Info is tracking more than $6 billion worth of projects from Edison, about $1.9 billion of which already are under construction.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Edison's active projects, by project type.
Among Edison's transmission improvements under construction is the Eldorado-Lugo-Mohave Upgrade Project, which runs from San Bernardino, California, to Boulder City, Nevada. Edison is rebuilding about 200 miles worth on the line running from Hesperia, California, to Laughlin, Nevada, and about 80 miles worth on the line running from Las Vegas to Laughlin, Nevada. Modifications include the addition of capacitors to increase power flow through existing lines and raising the heights of some transmission towers for better safety. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can see detailed reports for the projects originating in Hesperia and Las Vegas.
Edison also is seeking permits to rebuild about 126 miles of line along U.S. Route 395 from Bishop to Inyokern, California, including the replacement of 1,161 existing poles with 905 stronger poles, and raising the power lines further from the ground. The company also is considering a proposed line from Riverside to Ontario, California, running about 139 miles, which would be built on steel poles and mitigate thermal overloads on the network. Subscribers can read more details on the lines that would originate in Bishop and Riverside in Industrial Info's Power Project Database.
Renewable Plans Energized by Biden Proposal
Edison executives expressed support for President Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, lauding its emphasis on decarbonization and renewable-energy resources. They also pointed to Pathway 2045, a data-driven analysis published by SCE in 2019 that maps out California's steps to eliminate emissions from its energy sources by 2045.
"We expect to see this very robust investment need for the next several years," Pizarro said in the conference call. "As you look on a California-wide basis, we have estimated in Pathway 2045 that the investment need will be something like $250 billion or so across the need for clean energy resources, renewables, storage and transmission investment. The transmission and distribution part of that alone is around $75 billion."
Edison also heard some good news earlier this month, when the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Crimson Solar Park in Blythe, California, which is being developed by Sonoran West Holdings LLC (San Francisco, California) and Recurrent Energy, which is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:CSIQ) (Guelph, Ontario). The facility, which is designed to be built in two phases and generate a total of 450 megawatts (MW), would deliver energy to Southern California Edison. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on Phase I and Phase II.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
In recent years, wildfires have devastated California's electricity grid through the destruction of highly vulnerable transmission lines. But Edison executives are emphasizing recent improvements to utility equipment that made 2019 and 2020's wildfires far less damaging to the state's power system than those in 2017 and 2018.
"The utility is accelerating the pace of covered conductor deployment and expects to install at least 1,000 additional circuit miles by year-end," said Pedro Pizarro, the chief executive officer of Edison, in a recent earnings-related conference call. "At this pace, SCE will have hardened over 2,500 miles, or over 25% of all its overhead distribution infrastructure in high fire risk areas, substantially reducing the risk of wildfires associated with utility equipment."
Industrial Info is tracking more than $6 billion worth of projects from Edison, about $1.9 billion of which already are under construction.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Edison's active projects, by project type.Among Edison's transmission improvements under construction is the Eldorado-Lugo-Mohave Upgrade Project, which runs from San Bernardino, California, to Boulder City, Nevada. Edison is rebuilding about 200 miles worth on the line running from Hesperia, California, to Laughlin, Nevada, and about 80 miles worth on the line running from Las Vegas to Laughlin, Nevada. Modifications include the addition of capacitors to increase power flow through existing lines and raising the heights of some transmission towers for better safety. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can see detailed reports for the projects originating in Hesperia and Las Vegas.
Edison also is seeking permits to rebuild about 126 miles of line along U.S. Route 395 from Bishop to Inyokern, California, including the replacement of 1,161 existing poles with 905 stronger poles, and raising the power lines further from the ground. The company also is considering a proposed line from Riverside to Ontario, California, running about 139 miles, which would be built on steel poles and mitigate thermal overloads on the network. Subscribers can read more details on the lines that would originate in Bishop and Riverside in Industrial Info's Power Project Database.
Renewable Plans Energized by Biden Proposal
Edison executives expressed support for President Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, lauding its emphasis on decarbonization and renewable-energy resources. They also pointed to Pathway 2045, a data-driven analysis published by SCE in 2019 that maps out California's steps to eliminate emissions from its energy sources by 2045.
"We expect to see this very robust investment need for the next several years," Pizarro said in the conference call. "As you look on a California-wide basis, we have estimated in Pathway 2045 that the investment need will be something like $250 billion or so across the need for clean energy resources, renewables, storage and transmission investment. The transmission and distribution part of that alone is around $75 billion."
Edison also heard some good news earlier this month, when the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the Crimson Solar Park in Blythe, California, which is being developed by Sonoran West Holdings LLC (San Francisco, California) and Recurrent Energy, which is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:CSIQ) (Guelph, Ontario). The facility, which is designed to be built in two phases and generate a total of 450 megawatts (MW), would deliver energy to Southern California Edison. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on Phase I and Phase II.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
