SDG & E: Clean energy a central purpose of Sunrise

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 2, 2006 12:56 PM PST ∞

San Diego County's electric utility says the Sunrise Powerlink isn't just about boosting the region's supply of electricity ---- it's also about raising the profile of clean and environmentally friendly energy sources.

But critics say there are better ways to boost the use of so-called renewable sources of power, such as solar, geothermal, wind and garbage-gas combustion.

The utility has said it will name a preferred route for its proposed mammoth transmission line on March 20. The project has stirred much concern in the backcountry, as the wires could arc through Ramona, Julian and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. officials have said in recent interviews and public meetings that one of the main reasons they want to build a $1.4 billion electron superhighway across the backcountry is to tap developing sources of geothermal and solar power near the Salton Sea.

Geothermal technology uses steam from natural underground geysers to produce power. Solar panels harness the raw power of the sun. SDG&E also says its Sunrise line would provide a way to deliver power generated by wind energy projects proposed for the East County.

The surge of interest in solar, geothermal and other sources of power is being driven by a state law that requires California utilities to obtain one-fifth of their electricity from those sources by 2010.

"We have an obligation from the state to get to 20 percent renewables," said Jim Avery, SDG&E's senior vice president of electric operations. "Without this line, we can't get to it."

SDG&E, which powers 1.2 million homes and 100,000 businesses in San Diego County and southern Orange County, applied to the California Public Utilities Commission in December for permission to string 500-kilovolt wires from giant, robotic-looking structures spread for more than 100 miles east to west.

The line would deliver 1,000 megawatts, one-fourth of last summer's peak demand. A megawatt is the industry's primary measuring stick, and it is generally enough electricity to keep the lights on in 750 to 1,000 homes, according to the California Independent System Operator.

SDG&E expects the region's peak demand to reach 5,000 megawatts by 2010. Utility spokeswoman Stephanie Donovan said that SDG&E currently gets 6 percent of its power from clean, renewable sources, and has signed contracts to push that share to 11 percent by 2010.

In order to increase that share to 20 percent, Avery said the utility has signed a contract to use the electricity that one day will be produced by Stirling Energy System's proposed 900-megawatt solar plant in Imperial County, which has received preliminary approval from the Public Utilities Commission. He said SDG&E needs Sunrise Powerlink to tap that power.

Project critics maintain Sunrise is not needed for that purpose.

Bill Powers, a San Diego energy engineer who is chairman of the Border Power Plant Working Group, a watchdog panel, said there was another way to deliver the Imperial County renewable electricity: through the Southwest Powerlink transmission line that runs along Interstate 8. The line can carry as much as 1,900 megawatts to San Diego County.

While the line is largely committed, Powers said the type of electricity it carries could be juggled.

"That power can be whatever we want it to be," he said. "And if we want it to be renewable power, then that is what it will be."

Powers suggests that SDG&E could also plug into a $3.2 billion state program promoting construction of solar panels on rooftops throughout California. It is thought that as much as 3,000 megawatts could be produced statewide, he said. And if San Diego County produced an amount equal to its share of state population, the region could get 300 megawatts that way.

"That's half of the gap that SDG&E says we need to fill by 2015," he said, saying he believes residents would welcome such a plan. "People cheer it. They like it."

And, he said, such a plan would dovetail with the goal that a regional energy task force set a couple years ago of boosting the renewable share of San Diego County power to 25 percent by 2020 and 40 percent by 2030, with half of the clean energy coming from inside the county.

However, the utility's filing with the commission states that "the vast bulk of economic new renewable resource opportunities lie on the eastern edge of SDG&E's service territory and in Imperial County."

SDG&E's Avery said he is as enthusiastic about solar energy as anyone else. He said he has a panel on his house in Poway.

The problem, he said, is that solar's potential pales in comparison with the region's projected demand. Avery said the utility would have to spend more than $20 billion to put panels on enough roofs within the county to make a significant dent in the looming energy shortfall.

Another problem is, most roofs are a short distance from the coast and are often cut off from the sun's rays by clouds and fog, Avery said. Then there's the enormous land cost that makes any commercial solar project inside the county prohibitively expensive, he said.

SDG&E officials say they could deliver renewable energy at less cost by tapping solar and geothermal in sun-drenched and inexpensive Imperial County, and delivering it to San Diego via a new transmission line. Avery said that line would benefit the entire state and thus be paid for by all Californians.

Powers suggests that Sunrise's intended benefit is not so much to develop renewable energy as it is to increase Sempra Energy's ability to sell power produced by its gas-powered generators a couple miles south of the border, near Mexicali.

"I think that's the real plan. SDG&E is being asked to carry water for the parent company, Sempra, so it can realize its growth potential," Powers said.

Michael Shames, executive director for the San Diego watchdog group Utility Consumers' Action Network, agreed.

"Could we bring in renewables without the Sunrise Powerlink? Absolutely," Shames said. "They're using the green argument as essentially window dressing."

Avery dismisses critics' charge as "ridiculous."

"The fact of the matter is, those (Mexican) generators are on-line today and are delivering 100 percent of their power today," Avery said.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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