A recent report from the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative says that the state will need to shell out $15.7 billion to install the transmission lines necessary to meet the government's renewable energy mandates on time. On top of that, power lines have proved to be extremely unpopular with the public.
The new estimate is even higher than the $12 billion price tag the California Public Utilities Commission had predicted for transmission lines back in June. The group was also looking ahead to the golden's state's policy goal of generating 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 (and 20 percent by next year).
RETI has even provided a map of where these transmission lines will need to run, with the Central Valley bearing the brunt. That being said, no information has been released about exactly where they will run in the end -- mostly due to heated political disputes that have arisen around the issue. Two installation projects have already met with strong opposition -- one in San Diego where groups are protesting regulators' decisions to connect the city with solar-thermal plants to the southeast, and one in the Central Valley that has been outright canceled following outcry from local landowners.
The problem with relying on renewable sources of energy is that the majority of solar thermal and wind projects -- the two most reliable types of sources -- are located in largely uninhabited areas, meaning that the electricity generated needs to be channeled over long distances. Some have pitched the idea of moving small-scale wind and geothermal plants closer to populated regions, limiting the need for lines. But others say doing so would boost costs to a nearly prohibitive $58 billion (upping electricity costs for average users by 18.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, not exactly endearing renewables).
One possible solution to this problem is rooftop solar panels. That way residences and businesses can generate energy without the need for transmission lines, especially if more utilities are willing to pay upfront to integrate panels into their grids. Many doubt that rooftop solar can achieve the scale necessary to meet the state's mandates on time. Less is known about implementing such a system, and regular homeowners are likely to shy away from any solution that even seems to require work or expense on their part. Companies like SunRun, SolarCity, Sungevity and Borrego Solar are working to counter this image, offering to own, install and maintain panels in exchange for selling the power they generate to building inhabitants -- but this road is slow-going.
For now, California utilities are about 68.9 gigawatts of renewable energy away from meeting the 2020 requirements. That power is going to need to come from somewhere, but finding an affordable route that's not an eyesore is already presenting a real challenge.