ivcair.org - Public speaks on Sunrise Powerlink

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Monday, May 12, 2008 11:14 PM PDT

BORREGO SPRINGS — From conservationists in walking sandals to businessmen in tailored suits, elderly to the young, the impact of the proposed Sunrise Powerlink is far-reaching.

Ranchers, homeowners, longtime residents and recent transplants all spoke publicly Monday in the hopes of swaying the handful of people that sat before them.

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“There’s been a high level of interest,” Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said. “This is my first time hearing directly from the public.”

Peevey and four other commissioners with the PUC are tasked to decide on San Diego Gas & Electric’s proposed transmission line that would run from Imperial County to the coast.

A hearing was held with all but one commissioner face-to-face with their constituents for the first time on the issue.

Commissioner Dian Grueneich, who is assigned to the Sunrise Powerlink case, has sat through several hearings as part of the draft environmental review process.

Where that line goes and whether it even gets built will be decided by the CPUC later this year.

SDG&E has touted the $1.4 billion line as a way to move desperately needed renewable energy from the wealth of resources in the Valley. SDG&E is under the state’s mandate for private utilities to have 20 percent of its energy come from green sources by 2010.

SDG&E officials have said publicly they do not expect to meet that deadline.

The CPUC has identified alternatives to the Sunrise Powerlink including some that would not see any new transmission built.

Though the draft environmental impact review period has ended, the hearings Monday were designed to help the commissioners in their decision-making on the project.

The route of the line and the project has been debated and many of the same opinions were echoed by those in attendance at the Borrego Springs Resort and the more than 100 that spoke.

Business owners and representatives of the industry said reliability and access to energy was a critical issue in San Diego.

One San Marcos resident said he has camped and hiked in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and nothing about the proposed transmission lines, if they were built, would change that.

“It is necessary to maintain the quality of life I stayed in San Diego to enjoy,” he said.

With a majority of the audience and speakers opposing the project, Kirk Gentry of the San Diego South County Chamber of Commerce urged commissioners to think about the reasons for the line.

“I ask you to consider the facts and not emotion today,” Gentry said.

Fire hazards, the use of public land for the transmission lines and SDG&E’s commitment to renewable energy were questioned repeatedly by opponents.

Jeff Martin, a resident of Imperial County west of El Centro, said the line was going to be built directly over his energy-efficient home.

“There’s a misusing of resources today,” Martin, an advocate for conservation, said. “These are dinosaur systems.”

Others alleged SDG&E has plans to move liquefied natural gas from Mexico power plants owned by its parent company, Sempra across the lines.

SDG&E officials have maintained all the energy on Sunrise Powerlink would be green.

Locally, the Imperial Irrigation District has opposed the route but supports the project. IID supports a southern route that would have the line parallel the existing Southwest Powerlink route along Interstate 8.

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors has supported the line but has stayed neutral on a route.

Chairman Gary Wyatt told the commissioners to consider the necessity of transmission to renewable energy development in the Imperial Valley.

“The Sunrise Powerlink is the most immediate and viable solution to export solar, geothermal and other renewable energy from the Imperial Valley,” Wyatt said.

Peevey said while numerous comments have been received in writing and in person through the process, witnessing the testimony in person was significant.

“This shows how seriously we take this issue. It’s an important thing. From businesses, environmentalists, residents. … It was useful for me to physically come down here,” Peevey said.

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