Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the environmental review and monitoring of Southern California Edison's (SCE's) Eldorado-Lugo-Mohave Series Capacitor Project (ELM Project). SCE submitted an application for the proposed Project to the CPUC on May 2, 2018 (Application A.18-05-007). The CPUC is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lead agency and on August 12, 2019, the CPUC published a Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the Proposed Project. The CPUC approved a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the Project on August 27, 2020 (Decision D.20-08-032).

This website provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review process and mitigation monitoring.

QUICK LINKS
Application A.18-05.007
Proponent's Environmental Assessment
Amended Application
Decision D.20-08-032

Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration
Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration

DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT
The ELM Project consists of the following major components:

• Construct 2 new 500 kV mid-line series capacitors (i.e., the proposed Newberry Springs Series Capacitor and Ludlow Series Capacitor) and associated equipment.
  
  
• Provide 2 communication paths between the series capacitor sites:
  
  
  • Install approximately 2 miles of overhead and 500 feet of underground telecommunications facilities as one path to connect the proposed series capacitors to SCE's existing communication system.
    
    
  • Install approximately 2 miles of underground telecommunications facilities as a second communication path to connect the series capacitors to SCE's existing communication system.
    
    
• Provide station light and power to the proposed series capacitors by extending and/or rerouting existing lines to create approximately 2 miles of overhead and 700 feet of underground 12 kV distribution circuits. (The new distribution poles would support overhead telecommunication facilities as well as the electric distribution lines.)
  
  
• Construct 3 new fiber optic repeater facilities (Barstow, Kelbaker, and Lanfair) within the Lugo-Mohave ROW.
  
  
• Install distribution lines for light and power at the 3 proposed fiber optic repeater sites.
  
  
• Install underground telecommunications facilities from existing transmission structures to the Barstow, Kelbaker, and Lanfair fiber optic repeater sites.
  
  
• Address 16 potential overhead clearance discrepancies at 14 locations by:
  
  
  • Relocating, replacing, or modifying existing transmission, subtransmission, and distribution facilities at approximately 12 locations along the Eldorado-Lugo, Eldorado-Mohave, and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines to address 14 of the overhead clearance discrepancies. Tower modifications would include raising 9 towers approximately 18.5 feet by inserting new lattice-steel sections in tower bodies.
    
    
  • Performing minor grading at 2 locations along the Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line to address 2 of the overhead clearance discrepancies.
    
    
• Install approximately 235 miles of optical ground wire (OPGW) (approximately 59 miles on the Eldorado-Mohave Transmission Line and approximately 173 miles on the Lugo-Mohave Transmission Line, including approximately 3 miles of underground telecommunications facilities in the vicinity of the Mohave Substation).
  
  
• Modify and strengthen the ground wire peak of existing suspension towers where OPGW splices would occur (some of these towers would also require minor modifications to the steel in the tower body).
  
  
• Install approximately 2,000 feet of underground telecommunications facilities within the existing Lugo, Mohave, and Eldorado Substations.
  
  
• Within Lugo Substation, perform modifications on the existing series capacitors and install new terminating equipment and remove 2 existing tubular steel poles (TSPs) and install 2 new TSPs on the Eldorado-Lugo and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines.
  
  
• Within the Eldorado Substation, perform modifications on the existing series capacitors and upgrade the terminal equipment on the Eldorado-Lugo 500 kV Transmission Line.
  
  
• Within the Mohave Substation, replace existing series capacitors on the Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line and install new terminal equipment on the Eldorado-Mohave and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines.
  
  
• Within LADWP's McCullough Substation, replace 5 existing 500 kV 50 kA circuit breakers with 5 new 500 kV 63 kA circuit breakers.
  
  
• Install (if necessary) cathodic protection on approximately 60 miles of SoCalGas's natural gas pipelines parallel to SCE's Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line.
  

Construction Status and Mitigation Monitoring

The CPUC and SCE have prepared a Mitigation Monitoring, Compliance, and Reporting Plan (MMCRP), which is available here (7MB). The MMCRP ensures compliance with the mitigation measures adopted in the Final IS/MND. The MMCRP provides for Environmental Monitors and defines the reporting relationships, roles and responsibilities, and procedures for environmental compliance on the Project. The MMCRP will be updated to reflect schedule changes and other revisions as needed.

Notices to Proceed (NTPs) are reviewed and will be issued by CPUC by subsection of the project as requested by SCE. Issuance of NTPs is contingent upon SCE's compliance with pre-construction requirements as specified by the approved mitigation measures and responsible agency permitting requirements. Table 1 below summarizes the NTPs issued by CPUC.

Approved plans are available here. Limited construction activities began in January 2021 and completion of series capacitor energization occurred in Quarter 1, 2025. Cathodic protection installation is the remaining task to be completed.

CPUC Environmental Monitors were present to monitor construction activities and verify that the proper implementation of project mitigation measures and permit and compliance plan requirements during construction is occurring. Monitoring reports documenting construction and compliance activities are available here.

As final engineering was completed or as construction necessitated, Minor Project Refinements (MPRs) were submitted for the Project. Each of these requests were reviewed by CPUC to ensure that no new impacts or increase in impact severity would result from the requested change. MPRs approved for the project are summarized below.

BACKGROUND
The CPUC is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lead agency and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) lead agency, with the National Park Service (Mojave National Preserve) as a Cooperating Agency under NEPA.

Application: SCE submitted an application for a Permit to Construct (PTC) for the Project to the CPUC on May 2, 2018 (Application A.18-05-007). The Application was accompanied by a Proponent's Environmental Assessment. On January 9, 2019, the CPUC directed SCE to amend it application and to refile it as an application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN), rather than for a PTC. SCE submitted its amended application for a CPCN (6MB) on April 19, 2019.

CEQA Review: The CPUC has reviewed the proposed project under CEQA. On August 12, 2019, the CPUC published a Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the Proposed Project. The 30-day public review and comment period for the IS/MND closed on September 13, 2019. Comment letters were received from 11 parties. The letters, CPUC's responses, and text revisions to the Draft IS/MND are included in the Final IS/MND.

The project is located in San Bernardino County, California; Clark County, Nevada; the cities of Hesperia, California, and Boulder City, Nevada; the unincorporated community of Lucerne Valley in California; and the unincorporated communities of Searchlight and Laughlin in Nevada. A map is provided here. An overview of the Proposed Project is provided below.

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS?
If you have comments or questions regarding the project, please contact us using the CPUC's project email or voicemail, as follows: