The transmission system from Wyoming to California is permitted and parts under construction. Storage is growing rapidly in part because costs are declining rapidly: http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/facts-figures
Hopefully people will use the new technology rather than just fix the old.  In the Virgin island where there is almost complete destruction of the system building a DC minigrid structure with underground cables and home circuits with home DC for at least things like LED lighting and solid state devices would make a more robust and efficient system.
Planners should not give in to pessimism of those concerned about change.