Rancho Penasquitos group aligns against Powerlink

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Friday, March 24, 2006 10:23 PM PST ∞

RANCHO PENASQUITOS ---- For what she says is the first time in her 78 years, Jean Bardwell has taken up a cause, joining with a band of neighbors here to fight against the proposed Sunrise Powerlink electrical transmission line.

Bardwell was among some 60 people who formed a group in January called Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens, neighbors who say that the San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s proposed power line route through this upscale community is wrong.

"This is the first time in my life I have done something like this, but I just feel so strongly about it," Bardwell said after a Friday news conference by the group at a site on Darkwood Road, through which the transmission line would pass.

The utility company says it will need the line in a few years to meet expected energy demands.

Concerned Citizens Chairman Harvey Payne said his group wants the utility company to change its proposed route to take the line away from community's approximately 3,000 residences and have it run parallel to Highway 56 or Miramar Road.

SDG&E spokeswoman Stephanie Donovan said California Department of Transportation officials expressed numerous concerns about running the line along that highway. The company also does not believe that running it along Miramar Road would be feasible for a variety of reasons related to construction and other concerns, Donovan said.

A plan revealed Monday by the company to put the 230,000-volt line underground through a two-mile stretch of Rancho Penasquitos isn't the answer, Payne said, citing health concerns.

Scientists have not established a clear link between electrical fields and health risk, according to the World Health Organization.

The proposed $1.4 billion, 120-mile line would run between Imperial County and Carmel Valley. It would pass through Ramona, where there is organized community opposition similar to that in Rancho Penasquitos.

SDG&E customers would be responsible for about 10 percent of the cost of the line, Donovan said.

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission granted Concerned Citizens "intervenor status," meaning the group will have the chance to voice its concerns at all hearings and in all filings as the commission considers the proposal.

In December, the company asked the commission to break its application into two parts and first rule on whether there is a need for the 1,000 megawatts that the project would provide. If it found there is, the utility then asked the commission to decide whether to approve the line.

Conservation groups and community activists opposed that, and company officials this week said they were open to however the commission wanted to proceed.

Jeff Sloane of Concern Citizens said that while the group is primarily concerned about the line's proposed route, it also does not believe the need for the line has been sufficiently demonstrated.

"The battle is just beginning," Sloane said. "SDG&E's effort to placate this area by saying it would place part of the line underground is just that, and we are not going to fall for it."

The company's easement through Rancho Penasquitos has long been known to most residents, "but no one ever envisioned a power line like this coming through this area," he said.

The group, which has called for a community meeting at Mesa Verde Middle School on Thursday, plans to hire its own analysts to study the line and its potential health effects.

Neighborhood resident Jeff Storey said his opposition to the line is based on environmental concerns and criticized the utility for failing to have contacted community members before announcing the line's proposed route.

"The company has never explained that or contacted landowners," Storey said. "They've just said this is their preferred route."

Donovan pointed out the company has had two meeting in Rancho Penasquitos in recent days and continues to make efforts to address all the concerns being raised about its proposal.

When it comes to the need for the line, Donovan said the company's forecasts of the San Diego area's power needs require the line by 2010.

"Part of our business is to forecast what we think the projected growth will be in our service area and that's why we are proposing this line," she said.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

The Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens group is inviting area residents to a meeting at Mesa Verde Middle School on Thursday night to discuss its opposition to the proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.

The session is scheduled to take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the school, 8375 Entreken Way in San Diego.

For more information, see the group's Web site, www.pqconcernedcitizens.org.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.