SDG&E to Submit Revised Power Line Proposal

Apr 06 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego Gas & Electric is turning away from a controversial approach it had taken in its bid for regulatory approval of the Sunrise Powerlink, a 120-mile electric transmission line it proposes to build across Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the region's backcountry.

In a letter yesterday to the California Public Utilities Commission, SDG&E said it would submit an amended application on the project in July, one that will include information on the power line's route and environmental impact.

That amended application would appear to defuse a procedural skirmish that erupted over the initial filing made by SDG&E in December, which did not include route information.

SDG&E had said it would be more efficient to first win PUC approval solely on the need for the new line. Later in the process, the utility said, it would seek approval for a precise route.

Opponents of the project -- including at least a half-dozen newly formed community groups and environmental organizations -- urged the PUC to reject the filing as inadequate because they said it violated established procedures and could limit community input into the decision-making process.

Yesterday, Stephanie Donovan, an SDG&E spokeswoman, said the December filing "may be moot at this point."

"Our motion has been overtaken by events," Donovan said. The events, she added, included a recent agreement to cooperate on the project with the Imperial Irrigation District and Citizens Energy, a Massachusetts company.

The irrigation district and Citizens had proposed a transmission project in competition with Sunrise.

On March 20, SDG&E said its preferred route for the project would take it across a northern section of Anza-Borrego Desert park, through an area between Julian and Warner Springs, then generally west through Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos.

With SDG&E now promising a more complete application by July, Harvey Payne, chairman of Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens, which opposes the power line project, said he also did not expect the PUC to take action on the initial filing.

"This is what they should have filed in the first place because this is what allows the commission to put in place a normal schedule of events," Payne said.

"This a victory for all those who filed papers opposing the process SDG&E was trying to use."

At a news conference in Sacramento yesterday, meanwhile, a new coalition of more than a dozen business and labor groups announced support for SDG&E's proposed power line, contending that energy consumers throughout the state would benefit from an addition to the power grid.

"The members of this coalition are here today to send a clear and unified message that the Sunrise Powerlink is a critical infrastructure project needed to improve energy reliability, lower prices for consumers and businesses, create and protect jobs and sustain economic growth in California," Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, said in a written statement.

SDG&E says the new power line is needed by 2010 to ensure regional reliability and to bring electricity here from renewable energy projects expected in Imperial County.

Opponents say the new line is unnecessary, would despoil a state park and is ill-suited to transporting electricity from renewable energy projects in Imperial County.

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