BEYOND THE WIRES: West of Devers Upgrade Project

The West of Devers Upgrade Project involved rebuilding 48 miles of 220 kilovolt transmission lines in Southern California to increase renewable energy deliverability. After years of contentious relations, Southern California Edison (SCE) and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians reached an agreement allowing the Tribe to invest in the project through Morongo Transmission LLC. This arrangement made the Morongo Tribe the first federally recognized Tribe to be a participating transmission owner, receiving a share of transfer access charges. The project was completed in May 2021, five months ahead of schedule and under budget, avoiding the need to reroute the line through wilderness areas, which would have cost an additional $500 million to $1 billion and added seven years to the timeline.

• The collaboration with the Morongo Tribe significantly accelerated the project, completing it five months ahead of the preliminary schedule and potentially saving up to seven years in development time compared to rerouting the lines.
• The agreement established the Morongo Band of Mission Indians as the first federally recognized Tribe in the United States to serve as a participating transmission owner.
• The partnership structure involved the creation of Morongo Transmission LLC, a joint venture where the Tribe retained 51% interest and majority voting rights, allowing them to receive a percentage of transfer access charges collected by CAISO.
• Standard financial offers from the utility were insufficient to reach an agreement because they failed to address issues of Tribal sovereignty and historical dispossession; success was only achieved when the project design was used to enhance Tribal sovereignty.
• The project's success relied on high-level engagement, with senior leaders from both SCE and the Morongo Tribe engaging in direct conversations and a dispute resolution framework that required the highest-ranking officials to resolve disagreements.
• The Tribe's strong existing economy, largely supported by its casino operations, provided the necessary leverage to reject standard utility payments and negotiate terms that upheld its sovereignty.
• Access to experienced legal and regulatory networks, specifically through attorneys Tom Tureen and George Forman, was critical for the Tribe to navigate complex financial schemes and FERC regulatory filings.
• The project faced significant regulatory complexity, requiring a 'declaratory order' from FERC to approve a hypothetical rate structure before the Tribe could secure debt financing and bind itself to the contract.
• While the agreement benefited the Tribe and the utility, it created tensions with neighboring residential communities in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, who felt the chosen route increased visual impacts and that they lacked sufficient engagement opportunities.

APA

Kurland, A., Pavia, N., & Ferguson, A. (2025). BEYOND THE WIRES: West of Devers Upgrade Project. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/07155136/final-EDF-CATF_WestDevers-Report.pdf

Chicago

Kurland, Adam, Nicole Pavia, and Angela Ferguson. BEYOND THE WIRES: West of Devers Upgrade Project. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/07155136/final-EDF-CATF_WestDevers-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kurland |first1=Adam |last2=Pavia |first2=Nicole |last3=Ferguson |first3=Angela |title=BEYOND THE WIRES: West of Devers Upgrade Project |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=November 2025 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/07155136/final-EDF-CATF_WestDevers-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kurland2025beyond, author = {Kurland, Adam and Pavia, Nicole and Ferguson, Angela}, title = {{BEYOND THE WIRES: West of Devers Upgrade Project}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/07155136/final-EDF-CATF_WestDevers-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }