Southern California Edison (SCE) has begun construction of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, which will include a series of new and upgraded high-voltage transmission lines capable of delivering 4,500 MW of electricity from wind farms and other generating sources in northern Los Angeles and eastern Kern counties.
The first three segments include the following components: two new substations – Windhub and Highwind – located near Mojave and Monolith; a 25.6-mile, 500 kV transmission line connecting SCE's existing Antelope Substation with the new Windhub Substation; a 9.6-mile, 220 kV transmission line connecting the Windhub and Highwind substations; a 21-mile, 500 kV transmission line connecting SCE's existing Antelope and Vincent substations; and a 26.7-mile, 500 kV transmission line connecting SCE's existing Antelope and Pardee substations. The new lines are expected to be operational in early 2009.
‘Construction of the Tehachapi project will create the single largest power block of wind energy in the United States,’ says Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Other phases of the project are in the regulatory and approval stage.
