Report: Power line would boost fire threat

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
But big transmission wires may be safer than smaller ones | Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:42 PM PST ∞

The $1.3 billion project to string a high-voltage power line between San Diego and the Imperial Valley would significantly increase the chance of wildfires igniting in the North County backcountry, a new report says.

But the Sunrise Powerlink itself isn't the main problem, the report said -- in fact, on its own it could decrease some fire risk --- but rather the things that would follow in its wake, such as maintenance roads that open up new areas for campers to smoke or light campfires.

Strung from towering, sturdy steel poles, the project's big high-voltage wires would be much less likely than smaller lines to blow down or snap into trees in hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, the report concluded.

Those are a few of the many conclusions reached in a long-awaited, 7,000-page environmental impact report released Jan. 3. The voluminous study analyzes the transmission line's impacts on wildfire, endangered species and communities in the project's path.

Powerlink proposed

The report was prepared by the California Public Utilities Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. is seeking a license to build from the commission and permission from the bureau to cross federal land. Decisions are anticipated by late next summer and several public meetings about the report have been scheduled for this and next month.

SDG&E, which provides electricity to all of San Diego County and the southern one-third of Orange County, wants to build a 150-mile superhighway of electricity between El Centro and Carmel Valley.

The project's 500- and 230-kilovolt wires would be strung from metal towers as tall as 160 feet. The utility's preferred route would wind through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Ranchita, Santa Ysabel, Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos. The lines would boost the region's electricity supply by 20 percent.

The utility has proposed putting about 10 miles of wires underground.

Many San Diego County elected officials and business leaders have come out in favor of the line. But it is fiercely opposed by environmentalists, a consumer advocacy group and hundreds of residents in communities the wires would cross.

Anticipating fire risk

According to a 263-page section in the report devoted to the fire threat, there would be a heightened risk of blazes during construction and routine maintenance, as a result of workers using power tools or smoking.

The report also says new roads to the line's towers would create the opportunity for people to reach places off-limits to them now, increasing the risk that some would start fires by smoking, building campfires or setting them on purpose.

As well, the report says, there are existing small wires hung from wooden poles in the path of the project which, if left intact, could be blown down in high wind and crash into the metal towers proposed for the new line, showering the countryside with sparks.

The document urges San Diego Gas & Electric to take precautions during construction, and to replace those wooden poles with sturdier ones fashioned out of steel. Jennifer Briscoe, a utility spokeswoman, said the company will consider putting both sets of wires on the same poles where practical.

The huge new metal towers that would support the high-voltage line would be far less likely to topple, the report says.

"There is a public perception that all power lines can be a direct cause of wildfire ignitions," it states. "But power line-caused fires are much more prevalent for distribution and lower-voltage transmission lines compared with higher-voltage transmission lines such as the proposed project. ... It is extremely rare for higher-voltage transmission structures to blow over."

That finding is underscored by state history.

The report says three of California's 20 largest wildfires, as measured in acres between 1932 and 2006, were sparked by downed power lines. In each case, the culprit was a low-voltage distribution line, not a big transmission line.

One of those three big blazes was the 175,000-acre Laguna fire in San Diego County in September 1970.

October's infernos

Power lines also were a factor in the October fires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as CalFire, is investigating the circumstances, but concluded earlier that wires sparked the 198,000-acre Witch Creek fire, fourth-largest in state history, and the 9,400-acre Rice fire.

The Rice fire prompted the filing of a class-action lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of Fallbrook families who lost homes. The suit alleges the fire broke out because SDG&E failed to trim branches next to wires.

The Witch Creek fire, which crossed the path of the proposed power line in the Ramona area, prompted Sunrise opponents to charge the wires would spark still more firestorms.

Capt. Tom MacPherson, a spokesman for CalFire in San Diego said the investigation into the cause won't be completed until March 1. And he said he did not know the voltage. But MacPherson said the wires involved were distribution lines, not high-voltage transmission wires like the ones proposed for Sunrise Powerlink.

"It's two different animals," MacPherson said.

Is bigger better?

SDG&E maintains that, because of the difference, Sunrise would not generate more big wildfires.

"The highest-voltage transmission lines, the 500- and 230-kilovolt lines, have proven to be the most fire-safe of our facilities," Briscoe said.

She said such wires rarely spark wildfires because they are built on strong steel towers and are high above trees and bushes.

Joe Mitchell, a consultant who has been submitting written fire-related testimony to the Public Utilities Commission on behalf of the Ramona community group Mussey Grade Road Alliance, which opposes the project, agreed big wires on steel poles are less of a concern.

"I wouldn't argue that these aren't better than wooden poles," Mitchell said. "But are they immune from starting fires? No."

Indeed, according to Mitchell's testimony, a 230-kilovolt line did blow down in high winds on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base on Dec. 27, 2006, and spark a 3-acre fire.

Mitchell contends the Sunrise Powerlink, which would have 91 miles of 500-kilovolt wires and 59 miles of 230-kilovolt wires, could be expected to spark a fire once every 15 to 20 years -- but utility officials say history disputes that contention.

At the moment, San Diego County has one 500-kilovolt line, the Southwest Powerlink, which runs along the Interstate 8 corridor to Imperial County and Arizona.

"In its 25-year history, it has never been an ignition source for a wildfire," Briscoe said.

When all types of wires are taken into account, power lines sparked a little more than 1 percent, or 103 of the 8,921 wildfires reported in San Diego County from 1994 to 2006, the environmental report found.

By comparison, equipment use was blamed for 17 percent, campfires for 9 percent, vehicles for 7 percent, debris burning for 5 percent, arson for 4 percent and lightning for 2 percent, the report stated.

While 1 percent may not sound like much, in the case of power line-caused fires, Mitchell said, it is alarming when one considers the time of year most wires topple.

"Power-line fires are so much bigger than other types of fires, and the reason is you tend to get the power line failures during high winds," he said. "In Santa Anas, fires get away much more often and become catastrophic blazes."

Mitchell said his analysis of county fire data between 1960 to 2006 found power-line fires were to blame for 17 percent of the area burned in that period.

The report also said a new power line would create a new obstacle to efforts to put out blazes; firefighters and aircraft would have to stay well away to avoid electrocution from wires or electrically charged smoke.

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

22 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

Good Night Sunrise wrote on Jan 9, 2008 11:25 PM:Another reason to sunset the sunrise power link.

Denial wrote on Jan 9, 2008 11:52 PM:Nothing but negative posturing and spin just to rally people against the proposed and much-needed Sunrise Power Link project. This same group will be pitching a nasty fit 10 years from now when the demand of the region exceeds what little electricity that's available. One bad fire incident, and suddenly no one wants the project. You Michael Shames disciples will regret this, and he'll be long retired to even care.

Burt wrote on Jan 10, 2008 6:28 AM:Invest the same money in roof top solar, avoid the rural destruction and wildfire risks, while developing long-term opportunity for local solar companies to continue to find environmentally sound ways to harvest the plentiful San Diego sunlight shining on our backyards.

What SEMPRA wants, SEMPRA gets wrote on Jan 10, 2008 6:45 AM:Great report on the EIR ! Long awaited by the citizenry. When a monopoly such as SEPMRA wants something, with all of their power, no pun intended, they set about to get it. It is truly awesome to see that the PUC and the BLM have really done their homework. What is to prevent SDG&E, SEMPRA, from getting their way anyway ? Can't they pull off something like "for the good of the people" or the federal designation of the area being a major transmission hub or something, which excludes it from California CEQA laws and other laws which protect us !

Sunrise Powerlink increases greenhouse gasses wrote on Jan 10, 2008 6:49 AM:Why won't SDG&E do something to facilitate rebates for the alternative sources of power that are available. The sources are natural and everlasting, but at present they are too costly. How much greenhouse gasses would be saved by the widespread use of solar for the large consumers of power, whether residential, commercial, or industrial ? Instead, Sunrise Powerlink will only increase greenhouse gasses since they are planning to build so many more "peaker plants" in our outling areas and fuel them with their "dirty" LNG.

Mary wrote on Jan 10, 2008 7:04 AM:From this article the obvious solution is to turn the existing low voltage lines into high voltage lines. This would not open up more space and would replace lines that are prone to start fires with lines that are far safer. And for the folks who object to the sight of the higher profile lines, better than flames racing 70 mph across the dry back country, burning houses, destroying trees and leaving a black scar on the land.

Howiek wrote on Jan 10, 2008 7:33 AM:Some of you may want to heed what Denial just mentioned—and it won’t be 10 years from now, more like a few years. Solar is great if you can afford it and the Fed’s just pulled some of the incentives away from installing solar making even more expensive. Anyone who thinks SDG&E is going to install solar for you needs to see a shrink! A couple of really good blackouts would get the point across and I don’t care—I have a generator! Just think how pricey it gets when you start throwing all the food in the refrigerator/freezer out.

Ramona wrote on Jan 10, 2008 7:45 AM:The one thing the back country has plenty of is sunshine. We who live there would prefer rooftop solar to massive transmission towers.

Cassandra wrote on Jan 10, 2008 7:46 AM:Let's paraphrase: In it's history, SDG&E has been the ignition source for how many fires? Rice, Witch, and how many others?
The amount of fuel/homes that are burned is much higher is proportion to other ignition sources.

Those that don't wrote on Jan 10, 2008 9:06 AM:want the power line get solar and cut your line to SDG&E. Please give the power to the rest of us who want to live in modern times and would rather not become a third world country. Geeze let's see, don't want SDG&E to do business, want to save the delta smelt so no water. Wow these environuts really look out for us and do great things don't they? No power and no water!

To Burt n Ramona wrote on Jan 10, 2008 9:16 AM:Right on, you both have the right idea, hopefully this county & country will start to become more environmentally aware and start doing the right thing. We need to stick together and start electing people that have the savy to do things correctly and not fall for the developers' special interests and $. We are far behind a lot of other countries that know how to treat this planet with respect.

Billy wrote on Jan 10, 2008 9:20 AM: There you go - poor maintenance of the power lines and the right of ways. There is nothing like a wild fire to start one thinking. It seems to me it would be very easy to design a solenoid type shut off switch that is activated to shut off power at the opposite end to the line when a break occurs. the over all cost would be high; however, the cost to the individual power user would negligible. Sometimes I amaze myself. I will make a copy of this and copyright-mail it to myself.

Cookie wrote on Jan 10, 2008 9:36 AM:SDGE wants to build a big toaster in the state park. I think the future of Sunrise is spelled T-O-A-S-T.

Michael wrote on Jan 10, 2008 10:17 AM:When is Old Grove Road in Oceanside going to open? By not opening a road that is complete, they are wasting taxpayer money. Should this money be returned to the taxpayers if the road is not opened by a certain date?

Confused wrote on Jan 10, 2008 11:39 AM:Why are we not getting the full story?

Why is the power linked needed?

SDG&E never wanted it. Solar power is not needed to support SDGEs power demand.

The consumers don't want it. The price of power is not going to effected.

The US government is not requiring the change.

So, who do you suppose wants this? Oh yeah, I forgot some environmentalists want it. They lobbied for laws that require California to convert to so much % by a certain time. Well, they have won and the time is here. Oh, you say that other environmentalists' don't want it? Maybe they can sue each other to see who wins. But, it the mean time SDG&E is taking the hit for being this greedy corporation. In deed, they may be, but, not in this case.

North County Times - Please print the whole story!

Michael wrote on Jan 10, 2008 12:36 PM:Confused, it's the same thing as those who want to keep Old Grove Road closed because they want to keep paying the construction company as long as possible with taxpayer money.

To Michael wrote on Jan 10, 2008 2:24 PM:Do yourself a favor and call city hall for heaven's sake! I'm sick of seeing your blogs on any and all articles that have nothing to do with your question.

Ann wrote on Jan 10, 2008 2:39 PM:Having read much of the EIR the main problem with the lines is not igniting the fire, but how they will HENDER the firefighting efforts. In heavy smoke the lines conduct and spark, possibly starting new fires. The lines cannot be "turned off" but rather "de-energized" which can take hours, in the case of the Pinnicale Peak fire 14 hours before fire fighters where allowed near them.

With the extreme winds the backcountry experiences, to put these lines overhead would be dangerous to ALL of San Diego County.

Lets face it, with the lack of control burning and public lands no longer allowing cattle grazing, we are subject to these MEGA fires. Should the preferred route of the Sunrise have been in place in the Witch Creek fire, it would be crispy towers and melted lines.

There are better alternatives, going underground. please don't say it costs too much, how much did the October fires costs, how many lives are in ruins because of it?

Michael wrote on Jan 10, 2008 3:30 PM:I have e-mailed and no response from Oceanside City Hall. It makes you wonder what their reasoning is for misusing tax payer money like this.

Another Power Line wrote on Jan 10, 2008 5:00 PM:Another power line is planned for the cleveland national forest, it would be more devestating than this proposed plan. Apparently, we do need all of the power with population growth and those who turn their air conditioners to 68 in the summer and don't know how to conserve. If we allow them to put these lines in, who will focus their energy on real renewable energy sources? There will be no need. Lobby your congress and senate to extend and increase the solar initiative. Put solar panels a true renewable at the top of their list and fossil fuel (diesel and coal burning power plants)at the bottom!

Billy wrote on Jan 10, 2008 9:28 PM: Hey you guys - the article is about unsafe power lines and people who will not obey the law. Let's take them one at a time. The power line will work, or one like it from somewhere - we need additional power. If the lines, right of ways, and maintenance roads, are designed properly and maintained correctly There should be a lot less problems. A power line that will close off the power before it can spark or come in contact with anything that will burn is needed. That is an easy one. Then any problems that occur could be handled a lot better. Now about the people that will not obey the law - have you ever heard of such nonsense - suggesting that we do not install a badly needed power line because campers and smokers will not obey the law. Ridicules! A large jail sentence and a very heavy fine would put an end to that. Oh yeah, closing off the borders - I mean closing off the borders to keep smokers and campers under control. There you have it.

Burned Out in the Cedar Fire wrote on Jan 11, 2008 5:36 AM:To Billy -
I do believe that is what they tried to do to the hunter who ACCIDENTLY started the Cedar Fire. FINE THEM, SEND THEM TO JAIL? Big deal, once they star a fire, the damage is done. What about lighting strikes - do you suggest fining GOD?

I agree with Ann - mega fires are going to be a way of life in San Diego County.

Putting in this line is insane!! Power lines where the major contributor to the Witch Creek Fire, Sempra energy needs to give up some of there profits and make this line fire proof. GO UNDERGROUND !!

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