calamaridog
Expedition Leader
State commission approves Sunrise Powerlink project
Mike Gardner (Contact)
U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
1:25 p.m. December 18, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Public Utilities Commission Thursday approved a contentious transmission line that promises to bring renewable power from the Imperial Valley desert to the San Diego coast.
The 4-1 vote allows San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to move forward with the 123-mile, $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink project.
Under the plan, SDG&E will use the transmission line to deliver enough power for 650,000 customers. The selected route will connect high-voltage cables to 150-foot towers stretched across remote desert and mountainous landscapes.
After the PUC decision, SDG&E president Debra Reed said the transmission line will have a net benefit to the utility's 1.4 million customers by providing more reliability and flexibility. Ratepayer increases may be necessary at the outset to recoup the cost of the investment, but over the long run customers will save money on their bills, she said.
But the Sierra Club's Micah Mitrosky said the decision not to impose restrictions on what kind of power is carried on the line could lead to more energy being imported from Mexico, where plants use fossil fuels.
“Corporate profit won out today,” she said.
The hearing drew several area mayors, among them San Diego's Jerry Sanders who supports the SDG&E plan's promise to deliver more energy and stimulate renewable power production in the Imperial Valley.
“It is widely acknowledged that a lack of transmission capacity is the single greatest barrier to renewable energy development,” Sanders testified.
Supporters warn that the region is fast runing low on energy. Failure to generate more would risk serious ongoing shortages, sporadic blackouts and higher consumer costs, they claim.
Over the course of the review, opponents succeeded in keeping SDG&E from moving ahead with its initial plan to erect the towers along a 23-mile stretch of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The line will now run along Interstate 8, skirting edges of the Cleveland National Forest.
At least they kept the lines out of Anza Borrego. A broad coalition of interests opposed that plan.
Mike Gardner (Contact)
U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
1:25 p.m. December 18, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Public Utilities Commission Thursday approved a contentious transmission line that promises to bring renewable power from the Imperial Valley desert to the San Diego coast.
The 4-1 vote allows San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to move forward with the 123-mile, $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink project.
Under the plan, SDG&E will use the transmission line to deliver enough power for 650,000 customers. The selected route will connect high-voltage cables to 150-foot towers stretched across remote desert and mountainous landscapes.
After the PUC decision, SDG&E president Debra Reed said the transmission line will have a net benefit to the utility's 1.4 million customers by providing more reliability and flexibility. Ratepayer increases may be necessary at the outset to recoup the cost of the investment, but over the long run customers will save money on their bills, she said.
But the Sierra Club's Micah Mitrosky said the decision not to impose restrictions on what kind of power is carried on the line could lead to more energy being imported from Mexico, where plants use fossil fuels.
“Corporate profit won out today,” she said.
The hearing drew several area mayors, among them San Diego's Jerry Sanders who supports the SDG&E plan's promise to deliver more energy and stimulate renewable power production in the Imperial Valley.
“It is widely acknowledged that a lack of transmission capacity is the single greatest barrier to renewable energy development,” Sanders testified.
Supporters warn that the region is fast runing low on energy. Failure to generate more would risk serious ongoing shortages, sporadic blackouts and higher consumer costs, they claim.
Over the course of the review, opponents succeeded in keeping SDG&E from moving ahead with its initial plan to erect the towers along a 23-mile stretch of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The line will now run along Interstate 8, skirting edges of the Cleveland National Forest.
At least they kept the lines out of Anza Borrego. A broad coalition of interests opposed that plan.