Local push for priority in power connections emphasizes Kern's energy role

Using a Kern County address might not speed up requests for a new power interconnection. But maybe it will if a local campaign succeeds.

Local business and government representatives, frustrated by California's electrical logjam holding up new development, are together making the case that special consideration should be given to utility hookups in Kern because of the central role the county plays in the state's energy transition.

The effort recognizes how widespread the delays are, and how combining efforts to emphasize the region's special significance — its leading, growing share of the state's renewable energy portfolio — may lead to shared benefits.

"We want to be at the front of the list," said Executive Vice President John Guinn at Wonderful Real Estate, developer and manager of industrial property in Shafter.

He said the company, part of Los Angeles-based farming giant The Wonderful Co., is working within a local coalition and engaging with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to make sure it and the California Public Utilities Commission "understand the critical dichotomy that Kern County brings to the state, particularly with our green energy, our solar systems and our wind systems."

"We have a compelling story, really. It's important that we pull together."

The city of Bakersfield has joined Wonderful in the effort, along with Lebec agribusiness and real estate developer Tejon Ranch Co. and the B3K Prosperity economic development collaboration. For city leaders, it is a response to local developers' inability to get timely power connections to not just industrial but also residential and different kinds of commercial projects.

They see new interconnections as critical to Bakersfield's prosperity, and their absence a "serious threat" to the city's growth, a city spokesman said by email.

But the message is bigger than that.

"The state cannot meet its economic development goals or energy goals without Kern County being able to connect to the grid as we meet our economic development goals," spokesman Eric Galvan stated.

Sharing a focused message represents a shift in approach from developers concentrating on their own individual investments, interim B3K Executive Director Justin Salters said.

He came to see that a wider conversation is necessary when he was attending the California Economic Summit in October in Indian Wells. During a breakout session on advancing the state's manufacturing capacity, he noticed every region represented identified lack of access to power as a primary barrier.

"I left feeling (the challenge) was acknowledged and recognized by parties there, that it's something all of us in each of our regions need to work on," he said. "But this is a much bigger issue that no one of us is going to fix individually."

B3K has identified the issue as a priority and so Salters said the group is discussing and collaborating on the issue. Opportunities for deeper engagement await, he added, but in the meantime, the organization is bringing people to the table.

What it's not doing is finding fault in what has proved to be a complex challenge.

"This is not a finger-pointing or blaming game, if you will," Salters said. "We just literally need more power."

California's shift to greater electrification has raised demand at a time when availability of transformers and personnel has been limited. Meanwhile, the state's electric utilities have been juggling competing priorities such as protecting the power grid against the threat of wildfires.

The result is that getting a utility to install an electrical connection has gone in recent years from taking weeks to months, jeopardizing some projects and raising the cost of others.

State officials have welcomed utilities' investments in clean power generation even as they call for more effort in support of reaching California's ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. In that regard, new energy hookups remain a top priority.

Salters said one-on-one discussions between utilities and developers continue, to some avail, but that the big picture shows the importance of looking at the matter as being about more than individual projects.

"One of the other things that came out of this (discussion) is just recognition that the grid is an impediment to economic development statewide, not just in Kern County," he said. "And it's a challenge today with current demand and current loads, let alone as the state goes down a road of increasing electrification."

Tejon Ranch said by email it has engaged actively with PG&E to make sure the company's commercial and residential development needs are considered in the utility's planning process. It said it has collaborated with B3K, government and Wonderful "to identify priority electrical infrastructure investments."

Tejon Ranch's executive vice president of real estate, Derek Abbott, said the company plans to keep up that kind of engagement to secure necessary investments and see that grid improvements happen as needed.

"We are thankful that PG&E is responding to our requests, and we continue to engage with them and others to ensure the needs are fully met," Abbott stated. "By addressing power connection planning head-on, we aim to ensure sustained growth for our community and region while advocating at the state level to raise awareness and expedite critical power grid enhancements.”