Crucial Sunrise Powerlink Public Hearing 2/25/08
Posted on Thursday, February 21 @ 14:25:21 PST by Laura
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I am urging you to attend a crucial Sunrise Powerlink Public Hearing to speak out against this ill-conceived project and protect Anza Borrego Desert State Park, YOUR homes and the Los Penasquitos Preserve from its impacts. This may well be your last chance to make an impact upon this very important decision. The meeting will be on:
Monday, February 25th at 1:30
Board of Supervisors Chamber
San Diego County Administration Center
1600 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92101
Much of the testimony and environmental impact research to date show this project to be a terrible way to try to achieve more power for the region. Here are some of the quotes that have emerged from the case:
RENEWABLE ENERGY
“With regard to the state’s RPS [Renewable Portfolio Standard] goals, SDG&E’s testimony in this case states that the proposed Sunrise Project is not needed to meet its RPS goals for 2010, or even to meet goals of 33% RPS by 2020.”
-California Public Utilities Commissioner Dian Grueneich in her July 24, 2007 Ruling to Delay the Sunrise Powerlink Proceedings.
RELIABILITY
“Sunrise is clearly not needed to meet any of its stated objectives, including the critical goal of providing reliable service in San Diego," the report states. "DRA [Division of Ratepayer Advocates] is not convinced that Sunrise is the best alternative for meeting such goals -- or even that Sunrise's benefits will exceed its costs."
-Excerpt from May 21, 2007 North County Times article entitled, “Power line not needed, report says.” The report was prepared by the California Public Utilities Commission Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the agency that reviews utility projects on consumers’ behalf.
ECONOMICS
“UCAN’s [Utility Consumers’ Action Network] analysis shows it is a money loser to the tune of $92+ million per year for 40 years.”
-Excerpted from Utility Consumers’ Action Network Document, “57 Contentions but Nothing There: SDG&E’s Distortion and Contortion of the Evidentiary Record” Available on UCAN’s web site
The hearing is seeking public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) which you can view at this link (I recommend the Executive Summary at this point). If you do not care about the destruction of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, you can choose among the 12 significant and unmitigable impacts in our area; most importantly the fact that :
Construction & maintenance activities for this line (which will likely include 2 years of blasting and helicopter construction in the preserve behind your homes) significantly increase the probability of a wildfire. To quote the DEIR: “This is the most heavily developed and urbanized fireshed along the Proposed Project route…The heavy fire fuels, steep topography, and exposure to Santa Ana winds give it a higher burn probability and a higher potential for an ignition to escape. Potential for an ignition to result in a catastrophic fire is significant.”
In short, slow fire response times, fire containment conflicts and a heavy fire load that hasn’t burned in recent years coupled with lots of captial loss potential equates to a catastrophe waiting for a spark. The Sunrise Powerlink along with its heavy equipment and construction impacts are that spark.
This line will be paid for by you, the ratepayers, and while the economics don’t pay out well for California ratepayers, the project will be enormously profitable for SDG&E/Sempra. It is Sempra/SDG&E's mission to maximize shareholder value not ratepayer value. It is up to you and the CPUC to look after the ratepayers.
The DEIR shows 6 alternatives to be environmentally superior to the proposed project and many of these alternatives are also less expensive and conform better to the San Diego Regional Energy Strategy (SDRES). The two best alternatives do not involve transmission at all. While goal #5 in the SDRES addresses the need to upgrade transmission lines, building a massive energy superhighway like the SPL will undermine the region's ability to achieve ANY of the other goals in the SDRES and THAT needs to be made clear. Once we have invested $1.3 billion dollars in a transmission line to import most of our energy, what incentive is there for cash strapped governments and profit seeking companies to focus on (and do the hard work to achieve) local generation goals, local renewable goals, distributed generation goals, energy efficiency and conservation goals?
Note that, in order to help their friends at Sempra get this ill-conceived project approved, the Regional Chamber of Commerce has launched a massive effort to diffuse the hearings and what seems to be a good deal of momentum toward denying this project. They will be regurgitating the 2 year old SDG&E Sunrise Powerlink PR campaign that has been proven to be false in testimony at the CPUC and in the DEIR. I am quite disappointed that these business leaders have obviously not taken the time to look into this project themselves and are supporting the project simply because they are being asked to by a very powerful chamber member.
SDG&E is desperate and is throwing everything they can behind this. Your help is needed to show the CPUC Commissioners that you do not want this line. Take control of your energy future.
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