Feds to take second look at power line corridor

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
Sunrise Powerlink opponents pleased by surprise reversal, but victory may be temporary | Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:29 PM PST ∞

In a temporary victory for environmentalists and community activists and a slight setback for a local utility, federal officials said Tuesday they will review their October decision to designate almost all of Southern California as a national electric corridor.

This double take could have big implications for the Sunrise Powerlink, a $1.3 billion, 500-kilovolt power line that San Diego Gas & Electric Co. wants to build across the North County backcountry.

The proposed 150-mile line currently is under review by the California Public Utilities Commission, which is expected to decide whether to license the project next summer.

But the U.S. Department of Energy's October decision threatened to render any state action moot. On Oct. 1, the Department of Energy designated two so-called national interest electric transmission corridors.

The Southwest corridor takes in seven Southern California counties ---- San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Kern, San Bernardino and Imperial ---- and extends to central Arizona. An East Coast corridor extends from New York to Washington.

The corridor designation would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to overrule any state agency's denial of an electricity transmission project, a controversial federal foray into an arena traditionally reserved for states.

If the Energy Department were to scale back the Southwest corridor and remove San Diego County from it, San Diego Gas & Electric would have to abide by the state's eventual decision on Sunrise Powerlink.

Julie Ruggiero, an Energy Department spokeswoman, said the decision to conduct a review was triggered by numerous petitions on the West and East coasts.

"Last month, various parties requested that the department review this designation," Ruggiero said. "In order to give these requests full consideration, DOE will take additional time to thoroughly evaluate the basis of their requests."

She said, however, that the decision does not mean a scaling back of corridors is coming. Ruggiero said the federal agency believes the designations are well grounded and that the two regions need more wires to serve their huge, fast-growing populations.

"A blackout or brownout anywhere isn't fun," Ruggiero said. "And we want to encourage all the parties to collaborate to meet the growing demand for energy."

She stressed that the designations are still in effect.

Under the designations, as of next October, or one year after the corridors were created, utility companies could begin to challenge unfavorable state decisions on power lines proposed within those areas. San Diego Gas & Electric is in position to become one of the first in the nation to take advantage of the opportunity, given that a California decision is anticipated shortly before October 2008.

While acknowledging the corridors have not been struck down, power line opponents welcomed the announcement and called it a stunning turnaround on the part of federal officials.

"It just looked like a steamroller," Bill Powers, a San Diego engineering consultant who opposes Sunrise, said of the process that was used to adopt the designations earlier this fall.

"Given the nature of how it was carried out, it is all the more surprising that there is going to be a rehearing," Powers said. "There was never a hint of doubt on the part of the federal government. I don't know what this signifies, but it is gratifying that someone, finally, was able to get through to them to get them to take another look."

Diane Conklin of Ramona, a spokeswoman for a coalition of North County residents spread from the ocean to the desert who oppose the power line, said she was "very happy."

"There are a lot of problems with this idea, not the least of which is that seven counties does not a corridor make," Conklin said. "That's a huge area."

Bill Corcoran, the Sierra Club's senior regional representative for Southern California, said the corridor is not only too broad, it also grants too much power to the federal government to intervene in a state decision.

"We don't think the federal government has any business making decisions about how electricity is moved around California," Corcoran said. "We think that is bad news for the public and bad news for the beautiful places that we are trying to protect from unnecessary power lines."

Despite the setback, a San Diego Gas & Electric official said the Southern California corridor was expected to remain intact.

"We're confident that, even though the Department of Energy is revisiting that October decision, they'll come to their previous conclusion, and that is that our region is dangerously short of transmission lines," said utility spokeswoman Jennifer Briscoe.

-- Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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