Sunrise routes
could bisect Back Country
By Christy
Scott
The Alpine Sun
BOULEVARD — Due to an order from the state Public Utilities
Commission, San Diego Gas & Electric has filed three alternate
routes for its proposed Sunrise Powerlink that don’t cross
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. One of those routes could cut a
swath of gigantic conduit towers along a route through the Back
Country.
At the Boulevard Community Sponsor Group Meeting held
last Thursday, Oct. 5, SDG&E officials and local resident
discussed one of those routes. One of the alternative Sunrise
lines, alternative D, would cut south from Santa Ysabel, past
Julian and Pine Valley, down to highway 94 and then east along the
border through Campo, Boulevard and Jacumba, connecting to the
Imperial Desert. Basically it follows the existing Southwest
Powerlink, an existing east-west electric transmission line.
“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,” said Nick Pince, of SDG&E, to
the Boulevard board and residents. “The PUC has told us that we
have to look for another route… They want us to find a route that
doesn’t go through the Anza-Borrego State Park.”
“The proposed power line would increase the existing
69-kilovolt line by 700 percent,” said Anza-Borrego park
superintendent Mark Jorgensen at a board of supervisors meeting
held last week. “That going to mean much taller and wider
infrastructure… basically they are Eiffel towers that are 125 feet
tall and 104 feet wide.”
Environmental impacts were the major concern cited by
PUC officials in requesting other alternatives for the route. But
the utility insists none of the alternates would reduce the
environmental impact of the project. According to route maps, as
many as 50 homes would have to be torn down to make way for the
proposed line, if alternative D was chosen. The preferred route
would also cross more than 20 miles of Anza-Borrego 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.
SDG&E’s attorney, in 19-page letter filed with the PUC,
maintained that none of the three routes is acceptable because
each would cause more damage to the environment than the utility’s
preferred route through the park. The letter outlines why each of
the alternatives was rejected by the company as well as why the
Anza-Borrego route was ultimately chosen as the best.
“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.”
According to Pince, the preferred alternative route for
the powerlink is alternative D. However, he said that this route
would undercut a prime purpose for a new power line — bolstering
regional electric reliability — because its proximity to an
existing line means that a single wildfire could disable both.
“Right now route D is really our best of the worst,”
Pince said at the meeting. “We’re not happy with this route, I’m
sure you’re not happy with this route, but it’s sort of out of our
hands,” Pince said.
“What you can do as a community is to make your voice
heard,” Pince said. “If this is something that you don’t want to
see out here then contact the PUC and voice your opinion.”
The powerlink proposal has met stiff opposition from
residents in the line’s path and from environmentalists, who say
it is unnecessary.
Many critics have argued that the line isn’t needed in
San Diego, for renewable energy or reliability, and contend that
SDG&E will use Sunrise to move power from unregulated, fossil fuel
burning plants in Mexico to markets north of San Diego.
Kelly Fuller of the San Diego Sierra Club, which also
opposes the project, said she was disappointed that the utility
did not explore a broader range of alternatives.
“We don’t want to make this a fight between the north
county and the east county about where to put this transmission
line,” Fuller said at the Boulevard meeting. “All this looking at
alternative routes is taking away from the main focus, which
should be exploring alternatives that don’t require a power line.”
Several residents at the Boulevard meeting also
mentioned that the money for the proposed powerlink would be best
used to help fund solar developments inside the county.
“San Diego has an amazing number of sunny days each
year, the money should go the developing more local solar and
alternative energies so that we don’t have to ship in our
electricity,” said one resident.
SDG&E contends the line is needed to ensure regional
electric reliability and allow for the import of power generated
from renewable energy sources it expects will be developed in
Imperial County, such as wind, solar and geothermal.
If completed as envisioned by the utility, the electric
transmission line would stretch 150 miles from Imperial County
across northern San Diego County and cost about $1.3 billion to
construct. The line would provide enough electricity for about
650,000 homes.
A decision is expected by the PUC in fall of next year.
However, comments the proposed routes are being accepted by the
PUC now, until Oct. 20. Comments may be mailed to Public Utilities
Commission, San Diego Office, 1350 Front Street, State Building,
Room 4000, San Diego, CA, 92101. Or check online at
www.cpuc.ca.gov.
To see a SDG&E map of the preferred alternative route D click
here.
For other information about the Sunrise Powerlink project click
here.
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