Powerlink opponents prepare for hearing in Ramona

By: DARRYN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Monday, February 18, 2008 10:14 PM PST ∞

RAMONA -- Opponents of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s controversial $1.3 billion proposal to build high-power lines across the county met Monday to prepare for the state's public utilities commission hearing in Ramona next week.

The utility company has been pushing for new lines in a project it calls the Sunrise Powerlink since 2005, saying they're necessary to keep pace with the county's growing electrical demand, to prevent the region from suffering summer blackouts, and to bring state-mandated "green" solar-and-wind-created electricity to the county.

The forum was designed to prepare residents to "speak out" against the Sunrise Powerlink project at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Olive Peirce Middle School, 1521 Hanson Lane in Ramona, said Micah Mitrosky, a Sierra Club San Diego conservation organizer.

"We're going to walk residents through the process of a public hearing and give them a handout so they can effectively voice their concerns to the commission about the powerline," she said Monday.

The community meeting was sponsored by the Sierra Club, the Communities United for Sensible Power -- a coalition of county groups opposed to the Powerlink project -- and other organizations.

Critics argue that the 150-foot-tall power lines aren't needed and that alternative projects could sustain the region. They also say the lines, which would stretch from El Centro to San Diego County, would mar the Anza-Borrego desert and back-country communities, such as Ramona.

Opponents also have cited a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report in November that concluded that electric utility wires sparked the Witch Creek, Guejito and Rice Canyon wildfires in October. They said the utility should be pursuing a non-wire project such as a large-scale program to place solar panels on rooftops.

Representatives from the utility company could not be reached Monday, but a spokeswoman said in November that the fact wires were involved does not suggest the utility should be doing something different to prevent fires in the future, and that the project is still needed to meet the region's future electricity needs.

The hearing in Ramona is one of five scheduled around the county next week.The hearings, which will examine the need for the project and whether there are more affordable alternatives, could prove pivotal in determining whether the state public utilities commission grants permission to build the project. The state utility regulatory body is scheduled to make that decision in August.

-- Contact staff writer Darryn Bennett at (760) 740-5420 or dmbennett@nctimes.com.

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