Edison International: Preserving land for future clean energy projects

As Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand surveys the otherwise pristine landscape of his city’s waterfront, he can’t help but notice an unmistakable scar that has bothered the former airline crew chief since before he was elected to public office in 2009.

An AES gas-fired power plant surrounded by dirt, weeds and overhead power lines sits next to a sign welcoming visitors fish, boat and dine in King Harbor. There’s an ocean view, but it’s hardly scenic. Now, thanks to an agreement with Southern California EdisonBrand and the city are preparing to transform the parcel at the top of the power line transmission corridor into a welcoming place for residents and visitors.

“It’s a high-profile area near our waterfront. About 80,000 cars a day pass the property, and we really want to spruce it up,” Brand said. “So we’re setting up a walking path with landscaping and allocating over $400,000 to do it.”

SCE owns the land under the power lines coming out of the AES factory, the closure of which has been scheduled for years. But due to an ongoing shortage of power generation capacity during peak periods of power demand, the state delayed the shutdown until the end of 2023.

The power company often receives requests from local governments or private companies wanting to use what may appear to be undesirable land that SCE has under its transmission lines.

“People want to buy the land, they want to license it, they want to build on it,” said Larry Chung, vice president of local public affairs for SCE.

In the past, SCE viewed this request as a potential source of revenue and, in some cases, leased the land for storage facilities, container yards or other uses. But now that the impacts of climate change require a more aggressive effort to switch to clean energy and widespread electrification of buildings, transportation and much of the economy, SCE will likely need land soon.

“The reason we own this land is in case there are future projects to improve the grid, make it more resilient, or add battery storage,” Chung said. “We need this land to serve our customers.”

“It would be difficult to cancel projects if SCE were to come back later when we need the land for transmission purposes,” said Diane Forte, SCE’s government relations manager for local public affairs. “When reviewing a proposed land use, SCE’s land management and government relations departments work together through the decision-making process to assess both the political landscape and the impact of the proposal on our future business needs.”

SCE continues to work with local governments such as Redondo Beach to allow passive and temporary use of its lands for walking or biking trails and other beautification projects. These projects benefit communities but retain the flexibility to be converted for energy storage or other grid-tied projects if needed.

“We want to be a good partner with the city,” said Roger Jung, the SCE land manager who negotiated the five-year revocable license agreement with the city.Our secondary land use program allows third parties to use our property for low-intensity uses such as parks, trails, horticulture and other things that are not permanent.”

In addition to the fees, Redondo Beach will be responsible for maintaining the property, including weed control, debris removal, and mitigation of homeless activity.

“We were happy to work with Southern California Edison, and I know our community will enjoy this land and the view,” Mayor Brand said.

“We are doing everything we can to increase the usefulness of our land to residents of cities in our service area, as long as there are no permanent structures,” said SCE’s Chung. “It’s a win-win.”

For more information on SCE’s Secondary Land Use Program, visit sce.com/partners/real-estate-and-locations.