Power line unwanted above or below ground

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
State holds workshops on Sunrise Powerlink environmental report | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:32 PM PST ∞

RANCHO PENASQUITOS -- Peering over a big map set up on an easel at an open-house-style meeting Tuesday on the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line, Marcee Chipman said she was grateful that at least the wires would be out of sight behind her home.

"I'm really happy I don't have to look at it," said Chipman, a criminal defense attorney who lives in Rancho Penasquitos.

But Chipman said it is troublesome that the final three miles of the 150-mile-long power line would tower above the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, one of her favorite places to hike.

"I'm down there at least once a month," she said. "It's really good for bird-watching and reflecting. It's very peaceful."

The meeting with about 40 participants was one of several being held this week in three counties -- San Diego, Riverside and Imperial -- to provide opportunities for people to learn about the $1.3 billion power line San Diego Gas & Electric Co. wants to build and the potential effects it could have on communities and the environment.

SDG&E, which provides electricity to all of San Diego County and the southern one-third of Orange County, in essence wants to pave a 150-mile superhighway of electricity across the backcountry of San Diego and Imperial counties, and through the suburban neighborhoods of Rancho Penasquitos.

That highway would be paved with 500-kilovolt wires draped from metal towers as tall as 160 feet, and would run through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Ranchita, Santa Ysabel, Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos. The lines would deliver 1,000 megawatts, boosting the region's electricity supply by about 20 percent.

SDG&E has proposed to put about 10 of the 150 miles of wires underground, in parts of Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos.

A large number of San Diego County elected officials and business leaders have lined up in favor of the $1.3 billion project, while it is fiercely opposed by environmentalists, consumer advocates and residents of communities the wires would cross.

The utility maintains the line to ensure reliable electricity long into the future, while opponents contend there are more affordable and less environmentally destructive alternatives.

A state regulatory body, the California Public Utilities Commission, has the job of sorting out the arguments for and against the line and is expected to decide by late summer whether to give SDG&E permission to build the project. An administrative law judge will release a proposed decision, possibly in July, and commissioners will decide whether to ratify it, reject it or modify it.

The commission staff and U.S. Bureau of Land Management produced earlier this month a 7,000-page environmental impact report analyzing impacts. This week's workshops are designed to answer people's questions about the document.

When it comes to Rancho Penasquitos, the study says that, in areas where the project would be above ground, wires would be strung through a sky already pierced by power lines and would not significantly harm views. And the new wires would hang with existing ones on the same poles.

Still, just because the area has wires now is no reason to say the impact would be minor, Chipman said.

And even though wires would be underground between the preserve and Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard, a distance of five miles, Rancho Penasquitos resident Jim Gibson said he doesn't like the thought of a major construction project next to two schools. He said there would be a danger that children could fall into trenches.

Gibson, a sales director, said it would make more sense to run the line along Highway 56.

"You've got this big freeway that's empty," he said. "There's room all around it."

Truck mechanic Dominick Colamussi, who lives near the underground section, said he worries that the line's presence would slash the value of his property by $50,000 to $100,000.

And resident Karen Botiller said, "I just wish it would go away."

The open-house-style workshops continue today with a meeting at Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane, from 2 to 4 p.m., and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Warner Springs School, 30951 Highway 79.

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

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Pre-Registration Comments[-]Go to Top

Why wouldn't they support it ? wrote on Jan 30, 2008 6:30 AM:The proponents of Sunnrise Powerlink have an awful lot t gain by it. Just think of all of the companies that will make millions of dollars while SEMPRA (S D G & E) takes away our outdors and tries to pull the wool over our eyes by saying it will ensure continual power. What really is needed is lots and lots of solar systems. In other parts of California, power companies offer incentives for going green. Our rebates have changed. No Sunrise Powerlink. Just think of it as a slash across our open country !

Mary wrote on Jan 30, 2008 7:15 AM:Either we get more power lines here, or we stop building houses. Come to think of it, if we did that our housing prices would go up do to the law of supply and demand. Time to stop issuing building permits. Or maybe it is time to get serious about solar and wind power. But then there will be complaints about how wind mills and solar panels are unsightly. Everyone suffers from not in my back yard but it has to be in someone's back yard.

saddlebackguide wrote on Jan 30, 2008 8:39 AM:It truly amazes me that any homeowner would support this powerline. If a large number of San Diego County elected officials and business leaders have lined up in favor of the $1.3 billion project, then perhaps there should be campaign to encourage them to support Solar energy as an alternative. Every homeowner should attempt to install independent solar on their home to obtain zero consumption, in spite of lessened incentives. Incentives are funded by SDG&E, why wouldn’t they reduce the amount. It’s counterproductive to keeping consumers dependant. Yes, I’ve been on solar for 8 years.

Obvious wrote on Jan 30, 2008 9:53 AM:First, of course no one wants to have a powerline, above ground or below. Anyone could have guessed that. And it has nothing to do with whether the powerline is actually needed, and more to do with NIMBYism (understandably). But, I have to agree with saddlebackguide. Put that cash into solar and really change how we get our electricity!

michael a. wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:43 AM:SUNRISE POWER LINK IS A GREAT THING.

I am an environmentalist. BIG TIME. And I support the Sunrise Power Link. (The media routinely simplifies debates like this one). The power line will connect San Diego to massive Geothermal and Solar Thermal power plants being built in the Imperial Valley.

The Sunrise Power Link would be a huge step forward in our battle against Global Climate Change. And, it would strengthen our economy because renewable power NEVER goes away.

San Diego would become one of the largest cities in the world getting a huge portion of it's power from clean safe affordable and reliable renewable energy.

These benefits far outweigh the environmental and aesthetic costs of a carefully planed power line.

ThinkAboutIt wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:52 AM:For those worried about their property values, just imagine what it would do to your value if the lights didn't stay on due to lack of electricity. Reliable electricity -- and water -- are the two necessities here. As for solar, what if most people can't afford to put solar on their roofs? Then we're ALL in trouble...

ThinkAboutIt wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:55 AM:michael, you are exactly right. There are thousands of megawatts of energy that are untapped in the Imperial Valley right now. To not tap into that energy is a criminal waste of natural resources, especially when there are no better options.

I just decided that I am for the Sunrise Powerlink, too!

electricity & water wrote on Jan 30, 2008 2:36 PM:Electricity & Water should be treated the same, No meters! unless the builder has a plan to compensate the infrastructure. Build solar or buy credits on efficiency to somthing else. Or in the case of water...toilet to tap or gray water recycling

Teddy wrote on Jan 30, 2008 6:25 PM:SDG&E is racing against time. With the new manufacturing process patented by Nanosolar, Inc., the price of solar cells are going to drop to a third of what they were. The rollup flat material is thin, requiring no structural modifications. We have solar; clean, renewable and it doesn't require a three hundred mile extension cord. According to building associations, the sector of the housing market that is retaining value and being sold are those houses with solar panels. Declining home values are certain with power lines,unlike solar homes which is the only market segment showing increased values and quicker sales.

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