SCE finishes upgrades to West of Devers transmission lines, triples transmission capacity

Upgrade work on the Southern California Edison (SCE) West of Devers transmission lines project finished last month, improving reliability and expanding access to more than 7,000 MW of renewable and battery energy storage resources expected to soon flow from eastern California.

Old conductors and supporting structures of four separate circuits were removed and replaced across a 48-mile corridor stretching from the Devers substation near Palm Springs to the Vista and San Bernardino substations in Grand Terrace and San Bernardino, Calif. That represents about 200 miles of power lines, all told, which resulted in triple the capacity for power delivery in the region, leaping from 1,600 MW to 4,800 MW.

“Completing the West of Devers Project is another giant step in our ability to deliver clean energy throughout our service area,” SCE President and CEO Kevin Payne said. “While distributed energy resources like rooftop solar and battery energy storage will contribute to decarbonizing our electric infrastructure, large-scale generation and reliable delivery of renewable energy will be vital to achieve California’s ambitious climate goals.”

The $740 million project — expected to receive a $400 million additional investment from Morongo Transmission later this year — will benefit Southern California population centers like the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley, particularly as the summer heat looms. By partnering with Morongo Transmission, SCE was able to build across the Morongo Indian Reservation.