PG&E: Large interconnections face multi-year timelines as demand reaches 10 GW pipeline

Madeline Silva, senior director of strategic commercial solutions and economic development at PG&E, told attendees of a Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development webinar that the utility is receiving unprecedented demand and has nearly 10 gigawatts of requested load in its pipeline.

Silva said PG&E has shifted in the last two years from a primarily reactive application process to a more consultative approach with developers, particularly where high-voltage and large-load projects are concerned. "We have never seen demand like this before, and we have 10 gigawatts of requested load, in our pipeline," she said.

Silva outlined two main components to increasing a site’s electrical capacity: customer readiness (onsite interconnection equipment and ordering critical equipment such as transformers) and upstream work on PG&E’s transmission and capacity network. She emphasized that upgrades often require detailed engineering studies, siting and permitting and approvals from agencies including the California Independent System Operator and the California Public Utilities Commission. "It does take a couple of years and, maybe 2 to 3 years on certain sites and maybe more constrained areas. We are seeing some timelines out past 5 years," Silva said.

She explained load thresholds that guide the process: requests above about 20 megawatts frequently move to transmission-level work and longer timelines; projects below that threshold generally follow PG&E’s online application route. Loads above 2 megawatts are tracked in a special large-load group, Silva said, and customers receive preliminary engineering study timelines and plans to review and approve before deposits and further work begin.

Silva encouraged developers and economic development organizations to use PG&E’s initial, no-cost load inquiry as a first step to identify available capacity. For distribution-level capacity maps, she directed users to PG&E’s GRIP tool and offered to provide follow-up assistance by email for specific substation or city inquiries. She also noted microgrids are an option in some circumstances: "We do have microgrid pilots throughout our service territory," Silva said, but cautioned that microgrids are a case-by-case solution rather than a universal fix.

The presentation closed with Silva offering ongoing technical assistance and with PG&E and GoBiz discussing plans to add a filter to the site-selection tool to mark PG&E-vetted sites. Attendees were directed to webinar chat links, recorded office hours and Silva’s contact information for follow-up inquiries.