Lawmakers urge delay in national power line plan

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:29 PM PDT ∞

More than 40 members of Congress, including some from San Diego County, are calling on the nation's energy secretary to put off designating national electric transmission corridors in Southern California and on the East Coast.

The U.S. Department of Energy is holding an all-day public meeting on the controversial proposal in San Diego today, as well as six more elsewhere.

But senators and representatives who signed a letter dated Tuesday addressed to Secretary Samuel Bodman said the agency isn't providing the public an adequate opportunity to weigh in on the corridor plan. Their one-page letter urges the secretary to extend the public comment period by 30 days and add more meetings.

For now, the public comment period will close July 6, and there are no plans for additional meetings, said Megan Barnett, a Department of Energy spokeswoman, by telephone from Washington on Wednesday.

An outgrowth of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the two national corridors could set the stage for the federal government to overrule states if they deny utilities permission to build new power lines.

A Southwest corridor would take in seven Southern California counties, including San Diego and Riverside, as well as southern Nevada and western Arizona. The East Coast corridor would run between Washington and Boston.

Local activists and officials are watching the development closely, because it could pave the way for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to step in and approve the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line if the California Public Utilities Commission were to reject the controversial project in January.

Sunrise Powerlink is a $1.3 billion, 150-mile transmission line that San Diego Gas & Electric has proposed to build across the backcountry of San Diego and Imperial counties -- including Ramona and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park -- to boost metro San Diego's electric supply.

Barnett said that a national corridor designation doesn't mean new power lines are inevitable. Looming electricity shortages in the two heavily populated regions could just as easily be addressed with new power plants or aggressive conservation programs, she said.

"We're not asserting that additional transmission authority is the only solution to resolve congestion," she said. "Nor are we directing construction of a transmission facility or determining a route for a transmission facility."

Still, the prospect of the federal government being able to step in and negate a local decision is troubling to many. And, the congressional members said in their letter, people need to be given ample opportunity to express concerns about a proposal with such huge implications.

"Federal action of this magnitude absolutely must allow adequate input by interested homeowners, community groups, utilities commissions and government officials at all levels," the letter states. "Holding just seven public meetings in the middle of the work week simply does not accommodate the rights of American citizens to have their voice heard by federal officials."

Local signatories include Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, Bob Filner, D-San Diego and Susan Davis, D-San Diego.

The letter acknowledges that the Department of Energy has added four cities to the original three hearing locations, but says that "is still unacceptable." Besides San Diego, meetings are being held in New York City, Arlington, Va., Phoenix, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Rochester, N.Y.

Barnett said the energy agency disagrees people aren't being given enough opportunity to weigh. She said the seven hearings will total 40 hours, and those who cannot attend a meeting may submit comments on the agency's Web site.

The San Diego meeting is set for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, 1 Market Place. Comments may be submitted by computer at http://nietc.anl.gov/involve/comments/index.cfm.

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