Public has opportunity to weigh-in
on Sunrise Powerlink

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     Residents of Alpine and the Back Country will have the opportunity to weigh-in on a 500-kilovolt powerline that threatens to cut a swath of gigantic conduit towers along a route through the Back Country. The Sunrise Powerlink, proposed by San Diego Gas & Electric, would be a 150-mile, $1.3-billion transmission line that would link energy sources in the Imperial Valley to San Diego County.
     The powerlink’s original planned path would take the line through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park; but due to an order from the state Public Utilities Commission, SDG&E has filed several alternate routes that don’t cross the park.
A couple of these routes cut right the heart of the local Back Country. 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 park, but would not uproot any homes or families.
     At eight different public “scoping” meetings, that will be held next week, residents will have a chance to comment on the project and proposed routes, and offer their opinions to the Bureau of Land Management.
     SDG&E has said 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.
     “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.
     “We want to make sure we avoid impacts to private property, in particular housing units, houses, barns, ranches, 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. 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 powerlink proposal has met stiff opposition from residents in the line’s path and from environmentalists, who say it is unnecessary. 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.
     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.
     “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.”
     “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. “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.”
     Planning groups in Boulevard, Pine Valley and Campo have voted to deny the Sunrise project in its entirety, including all alternative routes. Groups in Descanso and Jacumba also expressed discontent after presentations by SDG&E representatives regarding the powerlink.
     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 towers along the route would be gigantic metal structures, measuring 125 feet high and more than 100 feet wide at their base.
     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 obviously much more energy is needed during the summer.
     By the end of this year, the California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to either approve or reject the project. If it is approved, the commission will also dictate the route it will take.
 

     For more information check online at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/aspen/sunrise/sunrise.htm.

 E-mail the Editor