CAISO's $6.7 billion plan builds for solar in the IE's high desert

Citrus Belt Review: California's grid operator approved a $6.7 billion transmission plan on May 19, recommending 38 projects over the next decade to handle rising electricity demand. CAISO data shows more than half the projects, and more than half the cost, are driven by forecasted load growth; the rest largely serve resource zones the state's utility regulator identified for new generation. Among them: 45 gigawatts of planned solar across several zones that include the Kramer area in San Bernardino County and Riverside County, alongside the Central Valley, Tehachapi, southern Nevada, and western Arizona. The California Energy Commission projects statewide load will grow 15 gigawatts by 2035 and 20 by 2040, driven by building and transportation electrification, manufacturing, and large loads including data centers. The plan trimmed from an April draft estimate of $7 billion as updated cost assumptions came in, and it leans on reconductoring — restringing existing lines for more capacity — across a dozen projects rather than building new corridors from scratch.