San Jose weighs municipal electric utility as new high‑voltage lines create connection window

San Jose City Council on Dec. 17 received a status report on exploratory work to stand up a municipal electric utility, a staff proposal branded “San Jose Power” that would initially serve selected growth areas and potential large customers in North San Jose and downtown.

The report said favorable timing hinges on two newly approved high‑voltage transmission lines overseen by the California Independent System Operator that will increase transmission capacity and could reduce transmission costs. "CAISO recently doubled the capacity of LS Power's project to 2,000 megawatts," Erica Garofolo, the city's lead resilience strategist, told the council. City staff said San Jose's average electricity use is roughly 1,000 megawatts, and that the new capacity would allow the city to request interconnection capacity into the transmission grid.

Why it matters: staff said a municipally run utility tied directly to new transmission could lower electricity costs for targeted customers, increase local resilience for critical infrastructure and support development on city‑owned or other priority lands. Councilors and the public pressed staff on tradeoffs, including where new substations will be sited, how startup costs would be allocated and…