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Back Country boards unite against SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink
project
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
BACK COUNTRY — Planning group members
and residents from Campo and Lake Morena voiced their opposition
to a proposed energy power line that could cut a swath of
gigantic conduit towers along routes through the Back Country.
The board voted unanimously to oppose the project, in agreement
with other community groups in the Back Country.
San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink, if
completed as envisioned by the utility, the electric
transmission line would stretch 150 miles from Imperial County
and cost about $1.3 billion to construct. The towers in question
needed to carry the transmission line would be 125 feet tall and
105 feet wide at their base.
SDG&E would prefer to build the 150-mile Sunrise Powerlink
across the northern part of the county through the Anza-Borrego
State park, but the California Public Utilities Commission,
which will make the final decision, has asked the utility to
consider other routes.
“The PUC has told us that we have to look for another
route,” said Nick Pince, of SDG&E, to the Boulevard board and
residents. “They want us to find a route that doesn’t go through
the Anza-Borrego State Park.”
The alternative routes outlined by the utility all
travel through the southern Back Country and along the border.
“I want to stress that SDG&E has already rejected these
routes in preliminary studies because they are too costly, and
don’t meet the demand that we want,” Pince said.
SDG&E says the three alternative southern routes it
reviewed are undesirable because they are close to a power line
that has been knocked out of service by fire 23 times in the
past decade. Having a second power line so close increases the
risk that both could go out of service in a disaster, negating
the main reasoning for the Sunrise routes.
One route crossing through Pine Valley would require
condemning more than 50 homes. Another route crossing through
Descanso would require the condemnation of more than 40 homes.
The preferred route would also cross more than 20 miles
of Anza-Borrego State Park, but would not uproot any homes or
families.
“We want to make sure we avoid impacts to private
property, in particular housing units, houses, barns, ranches,
so as much as we can we want to avoid impacts to structures that
were already out there before we started the process,” said
Sunrise project representative JC Thomas at the Boulevard
meeting.
“If you look at San Diego county, it is a checkerboard
of land-use constraints that we need to avoid,” Thomas said.
“Some of them are people’s homes, some of them are parks, some
of them are forests, some of those are tribal lands, it is very
difficult to get from that end in Imperial Valley to San Diego.”
The Sunrise Powerlink is opposed by many in the
communities where the line could cross. It is also opposed by
environmental groups who do not want the wires to cross
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Planning groups in Boulevard, Pine Valley and Campo
have voted to deny the Sunrise project in its entirety,
including all alternative routes. All of the groups have also
sent letters to the California Public Utilities Commission
stating their positions. Groups in Descanso and Jacumba also
expressed discontent after presentations by SDG&E
representatives regarding the powerlink.
“Our community already bears the burden of the existing
500kv Southwest Powerlink, which impacts many homes,” read a
letter from the Boulevard group.
One major concern is the necessity of the new line,
which has been questioned by many groups and individuals.
“It’s a false choice,” said Sierra Club representative
Kelly Fuller, of Alpine, regarding the alternative routes.
“Anywhere they’re going to do this, it’s just not needed.”
The Sierra Club, which opposes the power line, said
discussion about the different routes is spurious because SDG&E
should be focusing on alternatives to building a power line,
such as better conservation and more local renewable energy.
“There’s talk of a study that SDG&E has not done, which
is, is this really even needed,” said Campo resident Mike
Thometz. “There’s enormous questions within the industry and a
lot of other places, whether this is needed… there’s no facts,
no certainty — they say they need it and that’s it.”
SDG&E argues that the new transmission line is needed
to keep up with energy demand in the region. According to SANDAG
projections, the San Diego region’s population will grow from 3
million to 4 million by 2030. The utility maintains that the
region needs extra power to avert a shortfall early next decade.
SDG&E also maintains the project is needed to start
developing solar and geothermal power near the Salton Sea in
Imperial County. Under a new state law, the San Diego utility
and other California utilities must obtain at least a fifth of
their electricity from non-fossil-fuel sources beginning in
2010.
“They’ve really got the cart before the horse here,”
said Boulevard group chairwoman Donna Tisdale. “They haven’t
even started the permitting process for any of the energy
production in Imperial Valley…. They’re really pushing the
politics of this, but they don’t have the basics of the project.
That’s basically why Boulevard voted against the project.”
Proposed for completion in 2010, the project would
deliver 1,000 megawatts to the region, or roughly one-fourth of
what it currently uses on the hottest days. A megawatt is the
standard measuring unit of electricity and is generally enough
to keep the lights on in 750 to 1,000 homes. But much more
energy is needed during the summer.
The Draft Environmental Impact Study on the project is
due to be completed by August 2007, and the commission is
expected to decide whether to grant San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
a license to build the 150-mile power line by January 2008.
Back Country residents are asking for the California
Public utilities Commission to hold meetings in local
communities regarding the Sunrise Powerlink routes before making
any decisions.
In Campo, residents can view a copy of the 800-page
scoping report for the Sunrise Powerlink project at the
Campo/Morena Village Library.
An open-to-the-public meeting and scoping workshop for
the project will also be held on Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
at the Al Bahr Shrine, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road in San Diego. For
more information call (858) 292-0092.
For information about the
Sunrise Powerlink project click
here.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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