SDG&E Needs Permission to Use Park Easement

5/4/2008 - North County Times
By Dave Downey - Staff Writer

A San Diego Gas & Electric Co. official acknowledged Wednesday that the utility hasn't secured permission to build its proposed power line within an existing electric right of way in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The company has asked for that authority from the owners of the right of way, including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Imperial Irrigation District, but has not yet been given the go-ahead, the company's Lynn Trexel said during a hearing in San Francisco on the Sunrise Powerlink project.

The $1.5 billion, 150-mile high-voltage line has sparked protests from the environmental community and recreation enthusiasts because 22 miles of it would run through the popular state park in eastern San Diego County.

To avoid the need to obtain approval from state park officials, the utility is trying to stay within the 100-foot-wide right of way by building tall, narrow transmission line towers.

Trexel acknowledged the district has a competing proposal to build a line across the easement. If the district's proposal and Sunrise Powerlink were approved, it is likely the two sets of wires would have to be hung from the same poles, she said.

SDG&E is proposing to build a 500-kilovolt line through the park to reach planned solar and geothermal energy projects near the Salton Sea. Officials say the green power will help the utility meet a state mandate to deliver 20 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources.

The earliest Sunrise Powerlink would come on-line is 2011.

The state has set a goal of boosting the portion of electricity supplies from green energy to 33 percent by 2020, and a ballot initiative would require 50 percent a short time later.

Under questioning by commission Administrative Law Judge Steve Weissman, SDG&E's Jonathan Woldermariam said that reaching 33 percent likely would require building yet another line. Such a line could be strung next to Sunrise, between Warner Springs and the Sycamore Canyon Substation at Scripps Ranch, he said.

When asked whether an alternate route around the state park to the south could be brought on-line faster, Woldermariam said, "It's possible."

Under questioning by Harvey Payne, attorney for the Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens, Trexel said SDG&E is seeking a 1.8-mile-long, 60-foot-wide easement from the city of San Diego to run the last leg of the line across the city-owned Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve.

Four miles east of there, within the community of Rancho Penasquitos, the wires will be buried in the ground ---- between Rancho Penasquitos Skate Park and the Park Village neighborhood.

The hearing is one of many that have been conducted on the power line first proposed in December 2005. The California Public Utilities Commission is weighing the information being presented in the court-like proceedings, and is expected to decide by August whether to license the project.

Should the commission choose to reject the Sunrise Powerlink, SDG&E would have the option to appeal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as early as October.

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