California is a global leader in fusion research and development. As detailed in EDC’s 2025 statewide study on fusion energy, California is home to 16 core fusion companies—more than one-third of all U.S.-based fusion firms—and its growing fusion energy industry is supported by world-class universities and national laboratories that have attracted more than $2.2 billion in public and private funding, anchored by San Diego’s fusion energy expertise. Together, these assets put California in pole position for realizing the potential of fusion energy.
Sustaining that leadership—and translating it into energy production—will depend not only on statewide leadership and investment, but on the ability of individual regions within California to position themselves as specialized hubs for commercialization. Fusion’s path forward will be inherently place-based, requiring access to talent, regional supply chains, and pilot-scale infrastructure necessary to move from demonstration to deployment. Within this landscape, San Diego stands out as one of California’s most critical regional hubs.
Fusion pedigree with global reach
In San Diego, the fusion energy industry already generates more than $442 million in annual economic output and supports more than 1,600 regional jobs—evidence of a mature foundation for continued growth as fusion technology progresses toward commercialization. Our region further distinguishes itself by the breadth of our fusion capabilities, with strong legacy of companies, talent, and R&D supporting both magnetic and inertial confinement, the two primary fusion approaches. Combined, these assets position San Diego as a cross-cutting fusion hub.
At the center of San Diego’s fusion ecosystem is General Atomics, whose decades-long presence has shaped both national and international fusion progress. The company plays a central role across the world’s fusion landscape, supplying the components, systems, and diagnostics critical to both fusion industry partners and national laboratories.
In San Diego, General Atomics operates DIII-D, North America’s largest tokamak reactor, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy. A critical magnetic fusion research facility, DIII-D serves as a global collaboration platform that produces scientific insights and technological advances to support fusion development.
General Atomics’ fusion capabilities extend further through its Poway-based magnet facility, where it developed and built the world’s largest, most powerful pulsed superconducting magnet for recent installation at ITER, a 35-nation collaborative effort toward power plant scale fusion energy located in France. The expertise demonstrated at this facility represents a potential resource for developing future fusion blankets—the systems that surround the fusion reaction and convert its energy into usable heat while protecting the reactor, which are critical components across most fusion power plant designs. As fusion technologies progress toward pilot-scale deployment, sites like General Atomics’ magnet facility will become increasingly valuable in addressing both scientific and engineering challenges to commercialization.
San Diego’s highly-skilled fusion talent pipeline
Talent is critical to fusion’s development and commercialization. A strong academic pipeline anchored by UC San Diego complements our region’s industrial assets, offering established strengths in engineering, plasma physics, and materials science that support both fusion technology research and a skilled emerging workforce.
UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, a top 10 U.S. engineering school that graduates about 3,000 students each year, houses the university’s Fusion Engineering Institute which brings together interdisciplinary teams to address complex technical challenges. At the same time, UC San Diego’s collaborative efforts such as its Fusion Data Science and Digital Engineering Center—led jointly with General Atomics—apply advanced computation, artificial intelligence, and digital engineering to accelerate fusion testing and development timelines.
This kind of cross-institutional collaboration reflects San Diego’s interconnected ecosystem and is increasingly essential as fusion companies move toward commercialization.
Hurdles to scale: Competing in a rapidly evolving national landscape
As fusion technologies move closer to commercialization, regions across the U.S. are beginning to compete on more than research capabilities alone. Local and state governments are increasingly deploying economic and regulatory tools to attract fusion companies—and their growing economic impact—as they transition from research to deployment. These tools include property tax abatements, accelerated environmental review planning, coordination with local utilities, and, in California, the establishment of recent California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemptions that protect permitting timelines from costly legal challenges and signal regulatory clarity to fusion companies.
In San Diego, we have the opportunity to learn from other regions’ wins. Albuquerque City Council’s recent approval of a major incentive package for California-based Pacific Fusion—along with similar efforts by other regions, including Virginia’s recent success in securing the move of MIT-rooted Commonwealth Fusion Systems—illustrates both the scale and impact of the tools available to local municipalities and underscores that the race for fusion is underway.
San Diego cannot rest on its laurels; we must proactively address the challenges that inhibit the building of test facilities and pilot plants. Our region has an opportunity to build for the future, to both maintain our leadership position and capture the emerging economic benefits of fusion commercialization. 
Translating strength into impact
The good news: San Diego is entering the fusion energy race with clear advantages. We have a dynamic innovation economy, a strategic position in the fusion supply chain, world-renowned institutions, and a robust, highly-skilled talent pipeline. We can learn from other regions’ wins and losses, strengthening the local infrastructure, incentives, and partnerships critical to fusion companies’ success in San Diego.
But turning scientific leadership into lasting economic value will also require a statewide policy environment that makes it easier to build, scale, and integrate fusion energy projects. That is exactly the role programs like California Jobs First are designed to play: Helping regions like San Diego align workforce training, infrastructure investment, and economic development strategies so emerging industries like fusion translate into high-quality jobs, more resilient local supply chains, and broadly-shared prosperity. Here, California has the opportunity to invest in this fast-growing sector to strengthen both our economic and our long-term climate resilience.
With statewide investment and momentum, San Diego will be able to double down on the opportunities most critical to the fusion energy industry—from workforce development to streamlined siting, permitting, and grid readiness—to ensure our region captures the full economic benefit of fusion’s next chapter.
