Offshore Wind, Solar Along San Diego Highways and More: Some Key Energy Bills Heading to Newsom’s Desk

Gavin Newsom better have a big desk.

Of more than 2,600 bills introduced in the legislative session that wrapped up late last week, about 840 managed to navigate their way through the Assembly and Senate. The bills that survived the legislative gauntlet now await their respective fates at the hand of the governor, who has an Oct. 13 deadline to sign them into law or veto them.

Here’s a look at some of the noteworthy energy bills Newsom will consider:

A late provision by outgoing Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, included a proposed pumped hydroelectric storage project at San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside to the list of potential projects that AB 1373 helps facilitate.

If constructed, the San Vicente project will pump water from the existing reservoir to a smaller reservoir (still to be constructed) and then generate emissions-free electricity by sending the water back downhill.