Construction is officially underway on PG&E’s Momentum substation in west Placer, a high-voltage project billed as the power backbone for the massive Placer One development and Sacramento State’s planned Placer Center. County officials, utility crews and U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley showed up for the ceremonial kickoff as heavy equipment rolled onto the site.
In a post on X from Placer County, officials said PG&E has begun work on the substation and that the first phase is expected to be finished in 2027. The county highlighted District 2 Supervisor Shanti Landon among the local leaders on hand during the groundbreaking.
Project details and location
According to the Notice of Proposed Construction, the Momentum substation will cover about 11 acres on the south side of Momentum Road, west of Foothills Boulevard. Plans call for multiple 230 kV breakers, an internal 21 kV bus and several large transformers sized to handle early growth in electricity demand.
The same notice explains that the facility will connect to existing 230 kV transmission lines and will include underground 21 kV feeder conduits that can later be tied into new neighborhoods and campus facilities as they are built.
Powering Sac State and local growth
Sacramento State has been working for years on its Placer Center concept, a satellite campus envisioned with classrooms, a forensic sciences lab and transfer-focused programs aimed at serving the region’s rapid growth. As outlined by Sacramento State, the campus will roll out in phases, and the Momentum substation is expected to provide crucial capacity as the first academic buildings and support facilities go live.
Grid upgrades, permitting and timeline
Momentum is one piece of a broader push by PG&E to underground lines and upgrade the grid across Placer County as part of its wildfire safety and reliability work. In its overview of local projects, PG&E says it expects to finish many miles of undergrounding and related system improvements in 2026-27, while regulatory filings put key construction and in-service milestones for the Momentum substation into 2027-28 as transmission connections and distribution feeders are built out…