PERMITTING THE GRID: POWER AND PREEMPTION IN CALIFORNIA’S ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

Written by Xenia Tashlitsky^*

I. INTRODUCTION: THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION AS A LAND USE PROBLEM

Clean energy goals are often discussed in terms of technology, but the ability to deliver major projects often turns on access to real property. Energy transmission corridors must travel through privately owned parcels, substations require purchases of land or acquisition of easements and rights of way, and grid-scale storage facilities involve zoning, environmental review, and fire hardening.⁰¹ At heart, decarbonization is an exercise in coordinating a patchwork of real property rules.

This article argues that California has entered a new phase of real property law affecting clean energy projects, where local interests in control of land use are balanced against state and federal interests in coordination and planning for a carbon-neutral future. It examines the question of preemption under local, state, and federal law; environmental regulations; and eminent domain and concludes with a transactional playbook for owners and contractors seeking to permit the grid.