Edison Initiative Adds Twist to Power-Line Debate

4/8/2008 - North County Times
By Dave Downey - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- When Southern California's largest utility said it was going to generate 250 megawatts of electricity from solar panels on warehouse rooftops, it injected a new element into the debate over a proposed power line in San Diego County.

Southern California Edison's recent announcement has implications for San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s proposed $1.5 billion Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.

A power line opponent has proposed a similar project in place of wires to power the county's future: solar panels on the roofs of large commercial buildings and over sprawling parking lots.

That opponent, engineer and activist Bill Powers of San Diego, took the stand briefly Tuesday during the courtlike proceeding examining the merits and environmental impacts of the power line.

Powers may be questioned again Wednesday afternoon.

The California Public Utilities Commission says it intends to rely on mountains of reports, as well as testimony from hearings this week in San Diego and next week in San Francisco, to decide whether to license the project.

A decision is anticipated by August.

The third day of hearings is scheduled for Wednesday at the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

SDG&E is proposing to string a 150-mile high-voltage line from El Centro to Carmel Valley by 2011, if given the green light by either state or regulators.

If denied by the state, the utility could appeal, as early as October, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The line would pass through Anza-Borrego Desert Park, Santa Ysabel, Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos. Many residents of the communities and environmentalists oppose the project; business leaders and a number of prominent politicians support it.

In previously filed testimony, SDG&E dismissed Powers' vision for 920 megawatts of rooftop solar energy as "hypothetical and not feasible," saying nowhere near that amount could be developed.

The company expressed strong skepticism of Powers' suggestion that solar panels could be installed at a cost of approximately $5 per watt, saying more than $7 was more realistic.

But Powers maintained in a recent interview that Edison's March 27 announcement lends credence to his vision.

"To have the biggest utility in Southern California embrace this changes the dynamic of the discussion," Powers said last week in a telephone interview. "What it does is, it shifts the discussion of major photovoltaic deployment into the mainstream. Until (March 27), it could be categorized by our local utility as an unworkable pipe dream."

During cross-examination Tuesday, SDG&E attorney Richard Raushenbush, in an exchange that turned testy at times, repeatedly asked Powers to state how much it would cost to build solar panels that generate 920 megawatts.�

Powers did not provide a figure, saying overall cost was not an issue because it would be borne by entrepreneurs who would be entitled to state solar rebates.

In proposing to build its own 250-megawatt network of solar panels, Edison said it was preparing to spend $875 million. And company officials said they would expand the system to 500 megawatts if the first phase is successful.

Powers said Edison is showing that rooftop sun power can be used on a large and affordable scale to meet the San Diego area's needs. SDG&E is seeking to increase its supply by 1,000 megawatts, about 20 percent of its current supply.

Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Edison in the Los Angeles area, said his company had found a way to install the solar panels for $3.50 per watt.

Edison's first solar installment will be on a warehouse in San Bernardino County and it is expected to be operating by August, Alexander said.

SDG&E spokeswoman Jennifer Briscoe said the San Diego-based utility was "intrigued" by the project. "It is a new model," she said.

However, Briscoe said it would be hard to replicate the Edison example because there are fewer warehouses in San Diego County.

Powers dismissed Briscoe's conclusion.

"What's a Wal-Mart? What's a Costco? They are big and flat," Powers said. "And they are ready to go."

Starting with a 600,000-square-foot distribution center owned by ProLogis in Fontana, Edison proposes to pave rooftops throughout its service territory, which spans northern Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and several other counties.

Edison estimates the project will cost $875 million, a figure that includes charges for leasing rooftop space from building owners.

When completed in 2013, the rooftop network will negate the need for a new power plant, Alexander said in an interview last week.

"What we are doing essentially is building a 2-square-mile solar utility power plant," he said. "And the wires that come off these roofs will go right into neighborhood distribution circuits."

Because panels produce the most electricity when the sun is high in the sky, this project will help keep air conditioners humming on hot August and September afternoons.

"It's a type of generation that matches almost exactly the peak needs of our customers," Alexander said.

In other testimony Tuesday morning addressing fire threat, Ramona's Joseph Mitchell said San Diego County has had more fires sparked by power lines in recent years than other Southern California counties.

He acknowledged, however, that precise causes for the October 2007 fires have not been determined.

Still, Mitchell said he found through his own analysis of SDG&E data that on three occasions between February 2004 and November 2007, 230-kilovolt lines caused fires in San Diego County. Between Warner Springs and Carmel Valley, Sunrise would be a 230-kilovolt line.

Mitchell surmised there would be a 10 percent chance of Sunrise sparking a fire in its first 40 years of operation, a point SDG&E vigorously disputed.

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