Approved in 2023. Temecula found out in 2026.
The project cleared its key planning milestones years before the community was notified. Here's the sequence — and the upcoming dates where public input still matters most.
- Happened
Precedent: CPUC rejects SDG&E's line through Anza-Borrego
In the Sunrise Powerlink decision, the CPUC finds every 500 kV route through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park “environmentally unacceptable and infeasible” (52 significant, unmitigable impacts) and forces SDG&E onto a southern reroute around the park. The new Golden Pacific crossing appears to revisit substantially the same ground.
- Happened
CAISO approves the project
The California Independent System Operator's Board of Governors approves the line in its 2022–2023 Transmission Plan, under the official name “Imperial Valley – North of SONGS” (IV-NoS). “Golden Pacific Powerlink” is SDG&E's later marketing name and does not appear in CAISO documents — track the regulatory dockets under IV-NoS. The approval comes years before any Temecula resident is told.
- Happened
CAISO picks Horizon West, not SDG&E
Through a competitive solicitation, CAISO selects Horizon West Transmission (a NextEra Energy affiliate) as the approved project sponsor — not SDG&E. SDG&E did not win this project; it arrives later by assignment.
- Happened
Horizon West hands SDG&E the line
Horizon West assigns the 500 kV transmission-line portion to SDG&E (CAISO-approved under Tariff §24.6), while keeping the new substation north of San Onofre (SONGS) for itself. So there are two proponents with two components — and SDG&E is a relatively recent arrival to the line it now fronts.
- Happened
Temecula first hears about it
The City starts receiving emails from SDG&E and its hired PR firm. The project website's initial graphic did not even show the line running through Riverside County.
- Happened
Towers may exceed 200 feet
On a Zoom call, SDG&E engineers indicate the steel lattice towers — already planned at 180–200 ft — may stand even taller.
- Happened
Virtual open houses
SDG&E holds online open houses as part of its early community outreach phase.
- Now
City Council presentation
City staff present what they've gathered to the City Council (agenda item 19) and, after hours of testimony, the Council votes 5–0 to formally oppose the route and direct the City Manager to fight it — the public accounting that anchors much of this site's research.
Read the recap & watch the meeting - Upcoming
In-person open houses
SDG&E's outreach continues with in-person sessions ahead of its regulatory filing.
- Upcoming
CPUC filing
SDG&E files its application with the California Public Utilities Commission — expected to include the project's official cost figure. This opens the formal proceeding where public comment becomes part of the record.
- Upcoming
State & federal permitting
Environmental review under CEQA/NEPA and the CPUC's certification process — the window where opposition and alternative routes carry the most weight.
- Upcoming
Construction
If approved, construction would begin — 21 towers and 84 concrete footings across more than 5 miles of Temecula Creek.
- Upcoming
Targeted commercial operation
SDG&E targets a 2032 in-service date (its regulatory filings cite October 2032). Note this is a target, not the deadline: CAISO's latest required in-service date is June 1, 2034 — roughly 18–20 months later. That gap is the schedule slack the opposition aims to consume through lawful delay.