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.
(Bloomberg) — 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.”
Read More: Edison Wants Customers to Pay $2.4 Billion Over 2017 Wildfire
Edison, like other major utilities, is starting to feel the pressure from wildfire liabilities. Pizarro said Edison is making upgrades, such as replacing bare wire with insulated wire, to decrease the probability by 85% of its equipment starting a catastrophic fire compared to pre-2018.
“Our industry, and certainly our company, we are investing to harden the grid,” he said. “And I think the whole economy will need to do the same.”
–With assistance from Romaine Bostick and Katie Greifeld.
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