As countries set climate change goals for adaptation and mitigation efforts, there are many questions regarding to how to reach these targets. These efforts will necessitate the transition of our electricity infrastructure from relying on conventional electricity generation technologies including natural gas, coal and oil, to clean energy generation with renewables. Through the three essays presented in this dissertation, we explore various pathways of development for the electricity system to reach long term climate change goals. We are interested in identifying: Is there a unique optimal development option or are there various? How do different mixes of electricity generation technologies affect the development of the electricity grid, transmission infrastructure, secondary infrastructure and sustainability? The goal of the dissertation is to present new insight to decision makers trying to develop future energy policy, to help facilitate reaching climate change goals and sustainable development. While this dissertation is focused on the Mexican electrical grid and climate change goals, the methodologies presented here can be applied more broadly to other electricity systems. In the first essay, we use a multi-model approach to study a series of development pathways to reach Mexico’s 2050 climate change goals. We create expansion plans for the various development pathways with the use of a detailed model of the Mexican electrical grid. In the second essay, we develop optimal carbon capture and storage networks for each expansion plan that was presented in the first essay. We identify whether robust options exist within the carbon capture and storage network and what potential impacts the development of these networks could have on local communities. The third essay uses the results obtained from the previous essays to perform a comprehensive sustainability and equity analysis, with seven criteria, on the various development pathways for the electricity system. This analysis allows us to better understand the tradeoffs between the different development options and how they can impact questions of equity.