General Order 131-E Pilot Program

Overview

In January 2025, the CPUC adopted a significant revision to its General Order that sets forth rules for permitting electric transmission infrastructure in California. One important provision of the CPUC’s decision adopting General Order (GO) 131-E was the direction of staff to implement a pilot program to evaluate and identify opportunities to improve the CPUC’s existing permitting processes, including project reviews subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), for electric transmission projects. Staff are directed to report on the results of the pilot program in a biennial compliance filing due December 1 of every even year beginning in 2026.

Dashboard

This dashboard provides a preliminary view of the GO 131-E pilot projects and performance metrics that will be analyzed in greater detail in the first pilot program report due December 1, 2026. The dashboard includes two components: (1) bar charts illustrating the duration of pre-filing consultation, application review, and permitting (including CEQA) for each project, and (2) an executive summary table presenting the larger list of “high-level performance metrics” being tracked for each project in the pilot program.

These pilot projects were selected to meet the requirements to include at least one project proposed by each of the state’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs), at least two mitigated negative declarations (MNDs) and two environmental impact reports (EIRs), and a mix of competitively bid and non-competitively bid projects. To satisfy these criteria, in addition to the newer projects filed (or expected to be filed) under GO 131-E from 2025 onward, the list includes four older projects that were filed under GO 131-D between 2021 and 2024.

The pilot projects are categorized based on whether they are subject to GO 131-E (i.e., filed after January 31, 2025) or GO 131-D (i.e., filed prior to January 31, 2025) and whether they include federal review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in addition to state CEQA review. Projects may not be directly comparable across these categories as more data exists for the older GO 131-D projects than for the newer GO 131-E projects that are earlier in the process, and federal involvement entails additional requirements not applicable to the CEQA-only projects. Even within categories, factors such as permit type, CEQA or NEPA document type, mileage, and voltage may affect permitting timelines. The factors affecting project outcomes will be discussed in the report.

Performance Metrics

Data

The project attributes and dates used to calculate the performance metrics are available for download at the following link.

• Pilot Program Data (as of April 2026)

Objectives

The objectives of the pilot program are as follows:

• Evaluate the CPUC’s existing CEQA review process for electric transmission projects with the goal of identifying process improvements and other opportunities to accelerate permitting timelines.
• Define and track the project-specific factors that affect electric transmission permitting timelines, including the causes and durations of “schedule change events” that can contribute to delays.
• Track and report on the implementation of newly introduced GO 131-E processes, e.g., the new application process wherein utilities are authorized to file applicant-prepared administrative draft versions of CEQA documents in lieu of a proponent’s environmental assessment (PEA).
• Report the results of the pilot program to the public in biennial reports filed to the R.23-05-018 proceeding docket beginning December 1, 2026, as well as in a public-facing dashboard on the CPUC website that will be regularly updated.

CPUC staff will continue to process permit applications in the order they are received and will not prioritize pilot projects over other projects. Potential benefits of the pilot program include greater transparency and identification of process improvements to inform the acceleration of permitting timelines.

Schedule

Pilot Project Selection Criteria

The CPUC Decision Adopting GO 131-E (D.25-01-055, at pages 150-151) specifies the following requirements for the pilot program:

• The pilot program must be administered by CPUC Energy Division staff consistent with the Staff Proposal for R.23-05-018 Phase 2 Updates to General Order 131-D (May 17, 2024) and D. 25-01-055, using metrics to track and report findings.
• The pilot program must include a minimum of four electric transmission projects, including at least two projects where a mitigated negative declaration (MND) may be adopted within 270 days of application completeness and at least two projects where an environmental impact report (EIR) may be certified within 455 days of application completeness.
• The pilot program must include at least one project filed by each of California’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs): Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
• The pilot program must include a mix of competitively bid projects (i.e., awarded to a project sponsor by the California Independent System Operator [CAISO] through a competitive solicitation process) and non-competitively bid projects (i.e., utility-initiated projects or those awarded to a project sponsor by CAISO without a competitive solicitation process).

Stakeholder Engagement

Pursuant to D.25-01-055, CPUC Energy Division staff developed a set of metrics to track and report for each pilot project as part of the pilot program. This includes dates and attributes that staff would track and use to calculate detailed and high-level performance metrics for each of the selected pilot projects. In August and September 2025, Energy Division staff elicited written and verbal input from interested parties on a proposed list of metrics.

On August 1, 2025, Energy Division staff sent an email to the Rulemaking (R.) 23-05-018 service list to provide notice of a virtual workshop and to request input on a proposed set of metrics to be tracked and reported upon in the GO 131-E pilot program. (Contact the CPUC Process Office at ALJ_Process@cpuc.ca.gov to be added to a proceeding service list or subscribe to receive documents.)

On August 21, 2025, CPUC Energy Division staff held a workshop to present a list of proposed metrics for the GO 131-E pilot program and to elicit input on those metrics from R.23-05-018 proceeding parties and members of the general public. Three parties made verbal comments during the workshop, and Energy Division staff emailed a summary of these verbal comments to the service list. The slides presented during the workshop are linked below.

• GO 131-E Pilot Program Workshop Slides (August 21, 2025)

On September 5, 2025, the comment period on the proposed metrics ended. Six entities submitted comments on the proposed metrics: the Anza-Borrego Foundation, California Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Monument, SCE, and SDG&E. Comments focused on proposed metrics and other suggestions to address topics including the application pre-filing and deficiency review process, CEQA document preparation, interagency consultation, federal review, right-of-way (ROW) acquisition, project staffing, project metric benchmarking, pilot project selection, and pilot program administration. These comments have been considered and addressed in the list of metrics included in the dashboard.

The dashboard and biennial reports will provide opportunities for ongoing public disclosure and engagement in the pilot program.

Contact: For inquiries regarding the GO 131-E pilot program, please contact Michelle Wilson (michelle.wilson@cpuc.ca.gov) or Tommy Alexander (tommy.alexander@cpuc.ca.gov)

Additional Resources:

• GO 131-E (effective Jan. 30, 2025)
• General Order 131-D Update
• CPUC CEQA Overview