PVD2 is a 230-mile 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that connects the Palo Verde Substation in Arizona with the Devers Substation in Southern California. It also includes rebuilding four 230 kV lines and some other improvements to grid facilities in the area. The project could be on line in 2009, providing an additional 1,200 megawatts of transmission capacity. The estimated cost is $680 million.
ISO staff used its new Transmission Economic Assessment Methodology (TEAM) process to analyze the proposal. California ISO Grid Planning studied the project side-by-side with the ISO Department of Market Analysis. By using the TEAM approach, they determined the PVD2 project will provide significant reliability enhancement as well as economic benefit by providing greater access to relatively inexpensive power generated in the Palo Verde area.
The California ISO is charged with managing the flow of electricity along the long-distance, high-voltage power lines that make up the bulk of California’s transmission system. The not-for-profit public-benefit corporation assumed the responsibility in March, 1998 when California opened its energy markets to competition and the state’s investor-owned utilities turned their private transmission power lines over the to the California ISO to manage. The mission of the California ISO is to safeguard the reliability delivery of electricity, facilitate markets and ensure equal access to a 25,000-circuit mile "electron highway."
