Developer Pushes for 'Green' Energy Plants in San Diego County, Calif.
By Dan McSwain, North County Times, Escondido, Calif. -- June 15
On the heels of a key regulatory approval last week, a local businessman said Monday that he is talking to various officials about building at least five "renewable energy" projects around the county, three of them in North County.
He expects some opposition from potential neighbors, particularly in
Escondido and Fallbrook. But the power plants, which are designed to resemble a
typical, two-story office building, will produce almost no air pollution, won't
smell and will not need smoke stacks, he said. Cost is projected at about $100
million each.
"This is not one of those eyesore power plants that everyone is worried
about," Arand said.
Up to now, the primary business of the Fallbrook company has been to
manufacture organic pesticides that are based on garlic and tea tree oil. But
Arand has developed an ambitious plan to build and operate generators that would
produce energy by burning green waste such as grass clippings, wood chips and
agricultural by-products.
On Wednesday, Arand received an important boost: The Public Utilities
Commission voted to let San Diego Gas & Electric Co. buy power from
Envirepel at a Fallbrook location under a long-term contract as part of the
utility's plan to dramatically expand the amount of electricity that is produced
within the county.
Specifically, the commission said that the utility could buy 45 to 50
megawatts from Envirepel, enough electricity for about 45,000 homes. Regulators
also approved the utility's plan to purchase a 550-megawatt plant planned in
Escondido that burns natural gas to make electricity, a more conventional
technology.
State law requires utilities to increase their supply of power that comes
from so-called renewable resources. Green-waste energy projects are rare in
California, but experts have advocated their use because they ease pressure on
local landfills, offset pollution associated with global warming and reduce
consumption of traditional fossil fuels.
Arand said his company has secured a privately owned site for his first plant
in Fallbrook near Interstate 15 and Highway 76. In addition, he has asked the
Rainbow Municipal Water District to consider leasing him an alternate site
nearby. The second site would enable Envirepel to supply surplus heat and power
to a sewage treatment facility that would be necessary for housing development
in the area.
A self-described environmentalist, Arand says he originally conceived the
generators as a way to produce heat and electricity to support a system of
greenhouses to raise a new variety of highly productive dwarf fruit trees. Also
on the drawing board is a citrus-processing plant that would produce juice and
other products for Pauma Valley farmers.
"This started out as a plan to save North County agriculture,"
Arand said.
But executives of SDG&E have said they see enormous potential for
converting local green waste to energy, calling Envirepel's proposal
"innovative and exciting." Arand says his contract with the utility
encourages him to develop more power plants and gives SDG&E first dibs on
purchasing the energy.
In Escondido, Arand said he was scheduled to meet with city officials this
morning to explore whether they would allow him to build a green-waste generator
in the same industrial park as the larger power plant being constructed for the
utility. City officials said they were unfamiliar with Envirepel's plans.
Consultants say that the city has already zoned two parcels in the park for
light industrial uses that include electricity generation. Fuel from the venture
would come from an EDCO waste transfer facility about a mile away, reducing
shipments through the city to landfills.
Neighbors living just west of the industrial park generally supported the
first power plant, but a second may test their tolerance.
"I guess it all depends on what the environmental report reads,"
said Steve LoRusso, a nearby resident. "If that is turning trash to energy
and it is relatively clean, then OK. We need the energy, but it all depends on
what the environment impact reads."
At Camp Pendleton, Envirepel is seeking to become part of a long-delayed
project by the Marines to build a sewage treatment plant. Arand is also seeking
to build a generating plant near the Sycamore Canyon landfill. Yet another
project would provide energy to process sludge that the Navy produces near its
facility at 32nd Street in San Diego.
Staff writer Erin Massey contributed to this report.
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