Sunrise Powerlink would be first power line approved in existing park

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 25, 2006 9:36 PM PDT ∞

If the California Public Utilities Commission gives a San Diego utility the green light to erect a transmission line through the Anza-Borrego desert, it would be the first time the state has authorized stringing 500-kilovolt wires across an existing state park, an official said last week.

Several parks are crossed by large transmission lines today, but all were added to the state park system after the lines were already in place, said Roy Stearns, spokesman for the California State Parks Department in Sacramento.

The San Diego County power line project also would trigger the first reduction of a protected state wilderness, Stearns said. According to a September filing with the commission by the parks department, the $1.3 billion project would require eliminating 73 acres of wilderness within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. currently operates a much smaller 69-kilovolt line through Anza-Borrego on an easement that ranges in width from 24 to 100 feet. SDG&E proposes to switch out the smaller line and put the much bigger one through the same corridor. Designated wilderness borders that easement and, in order to make room for the huge footprint of the metal towers that would carry 500-kilovolt wires, the utility wants to expand its easement to 150 feet.

The utility has proposed erecting a transmission line that would run 150 miles from El Centro in Imperial County to Carmel Valley in metropolitan San Diego, and would boost the region's power supply by 20 percent. The utility serves all of San Diego County and part of southern Orange County.

Named Sunrise Powerlink, the line would run through Santa Ysabel, Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos. It also would run for 23 miles through the 600,000-acre state park, the largest such park in the continental United States.

Anza-Borrego has about 460,000 acres of designated wilderness. The park is a relatively untouched place known for its vivid spring wildflowers, rugged canyons, oases of native fan palms, sweeping views and diverse wildlife ---- including the endangered peninsular bighorn sheep. Named for the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word (borrego) for bighorn sheep, the park is visited by 550,000 people annually. It has campgrounds, picnic areas and hiking trails.

The transmission line project is strongly opposed by residents of communities it would cross and environmental groups who worry about potential harm to wildlife and scenic views. The line has been endorsed by large San Diego County businesses and several cities in San Diego and Orange counties that are counting on the extra power.

The utilities commission is studying environmental and community impacts, as well as the need for the power. It is expected to issue a decision by late 2007.

In 10 state parks

Kelly Fuller, a member of the San Diego and Imperial counties chapter of the Sierra Club, is one of those opposed to the project.

"Wilderness is supposed to be forever," Fuller said. "SDG&E wants to slice through the heart of Anza-Borrego and rescind state wilderness for the first time in our history for a power line that does not have to be built."

Stephanie Donovan, a spokeswoman for SDG&E, counters that the line would occupy a "very small" part of the park and follow the path of an existing 69-kilovolt line that predates Anza-Borrego.

"It is already disturbed land," Donovan said. "The line has been there since the early (19)20s."

Project opponents, however, say the 70-foot wooden poles that carry the existing wires are insignificant compared to the proposed broad metal towers.

Statewide, there are 278 state parks, Stearns said, and 10 have transmission lines.

He said those include North County's San Onofre State Beach; Chino Hills State Park in San Bernardino County near Chino; Folsom Lake State Recreation Area near Folsom; Hungry Valley State Vehicle Recreation Area north of Los Angeles; Lake Oroville State Recreation Area north of Sacramento; Millerton Lake State Recreation Area northeast of Fresno; Prairie City State Vehicle Recreation Area near Sacramento; Red Rock Canyon State Park northwest of Barstow; San Timoteo State Park near Redlands; and Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area off Interstate 15 in the San Bernardino Mountains.

"In every single case, the lines were there before those became state parks," Stearns said. "We are hoping that none are added."

But, said Donovan, "The reality is, high-voltage lines exist in a number of state parks. They are an essential component of our society and support our economy."

One of the last pristine viewsheds

While park officials have stopped short of opposing Sunrise Powerlink, they have raised questions about the route, which would follow Highway 78 and a scenic canyon through Anza-Borrego.

"We don't question the need for the power line, we question the need for it to go through this viewshed and this park," Stearns said. "It is one of the absolutely last pristine, prehistoric viewsheds in North America. It is one of those places that only Mother Nature has primarily changed, and she changes things pretty slowly."

State parks officials have said they want other routes explored. And the Public Utilities Commission ordered SDG&E in September to come up with alternate alignments outside of Anza-Borrego. The utility outlined three possibilities, each running along the border into San Diego County from El Centro, then arcing north toward Warner Springs in the North County backcountry.

"Let's not write off the park because it's the easiest way to do this," Stearns said.

On the other hand, Donovan said, it would be anything but easy to design a route around the park because the huge block of land dominates the eastern side of San Diego County. It occupies almost all the territory along the San Diego-Imperial county line north of Interstate 8.

"If you're going to go west from Imperial County, it is very difficult to avoid going through some portion of the park," Donovan said.

But, while SDG&E chose to go through the park, she said the utility carefully selected a route next to the existing developments of a highway and an electrical line.

"We've really tried to work cooperatively with the state parks to come up with a route that would allow us to have the least impact on the park as possible," Donovan said.

Absent from national parks

When it comes to other public lands in California, it is common for transmission lines to cross national forests, which are managed for a variety of uses, and rare for them to go through national parks, which are managed to protect the environment, officials said.

Matt Mathes, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service in San Francisco, said 500-kilovolt wires cross the Modoc, Lassen, Shasta-Trinity, Angeles, San Bernardino and Inyo national forests.

"There's nothing at all unusual about it," Mathes said. "And if one stops to think about it, there is no way around it. It is very difficult to avoid a national forest if you're bringing power into California."

Mathes said national forests occupy 20 percent of California's land mass.

California's national parks are a different story. No transmission lines cross the flagship parks of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, said Holly Bundock, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service in the San Francisco Bay Area. And for good reason, Bundock said.

"I don't think we could call them national parks if they had those going through them," she said.

Fuller, of the Sierra Club, said the purpose of state parks is similar to that of national parks, and a giant power line is incompatible with that purpose.

Donovan countered that the line is in fact compatible with the historical use of SDG&E's easement for delivering electricity. And she said that the Anza-Borrego management plan authorizes the utility to one day expand its system to meet the growing needs of its customers.

When it comes to designated wilderness areas in California's national forests, Mathes said, there is no precedent for whittling away at them. Ditto for national parks, Bundock said.

Said Mathes: "We don't know of any instances where a wilderness area boundary has been changed to accommodate any kind of special project."

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

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County holds hearing on proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line

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