California Needs a $370 Billion Grid Investment, Edison Says

  • Demand for electricity to grow 80% by 2045, pushed by EVs
  • Grid upgrades also are needed to avoid wildfire risk, CEO says

Electrical transmission towers at an electrical substation in Vacaville, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Electricity demand in California is expected to jump 80% or more by 2045, requiring the state to invest $370 billion in its power grid and clean energy to meet its net zero goal, utility giant Edison International predicts.

Pressure on the electric grid of the world’s fifth-biggest economy due to the adoption of electric vehicles is rising, “and it’s moving faster than expected,” with load growing at least 2% a year, the utility’s Chief Executive Officer Pedro Pizarro said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday. “It is a big lift for the state of California.”