FALLBROOK: Power plant environmental report ready to review

Several meetings scheduled over next six weeks in Orange Grove proceedings

By TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:13 PM PST ∞

FALLBROOK ---- As a developer moves forward with plans to build a 96-megawatt power plant off Highway 76 near Pala, local residents will have several opportunities to review and comment on the project's recently completed environmental report, officials said Wednesday.

The California Energy Commission calls the document a "staff assessment," but it is essentially the same thing as an environmental impact report, said energy commission spokesman Percy Della.

A workshop to discuss the report is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Fallbrook Public Utility District, at 990 E. Mission Road.

"Public participation is the hallmark of the licensing process," he said.

The $85 million power station, dubbed "Orange Grove" and proposed by J-Power USA, would generate enough electricity to power nearly 100,000 homes in Southern California during the "peak" energy months of August and September, officials have said.

The 8.5-acre site is located just north of Highway 76, about three miles east of Interstate 15.

For those who cannot attend next week's workshop but wish to review the staff assessment, digital copies are available on the energy commission's Web site, www.energy.ca.gov.

Della said hard copies are being printed and will soon be available at the public libraries in Fallbrook, Valley Center, San Marcos, Vista and San Diego.

Two additional meetings are scheduled leading up to the energy commission's decision on whether to grant approval to J-Power USA to build and begin operating the Orange Grove plant.

The first, on Monday, Dec. 1, will take place in Sacramento, but the second, at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, will be held at Pala Mesa Resort, at 2001 Highway 395.

That meeting will be a formal hearing to discuss the project, Della said.

Anyone may attend, but only individuals who have registered with the energy commission as "intervenors" may present evidence at the hearing, he said. Intervenors may also cross-examine witnesses and present witnesses of their own.

"After the hearing, the committee will formulate a proposed decision, and that decision will be open to 30 days of public comment," he said. "The last step will be the whole commission acting on the project."

The state's five energy commissioners ultimately decide which power plants can be built.

J-Power USA vice president Jim Thome said last month that he hopes to get a green light from the energy commission by next April, and have the power plant online by October.

For more information about any part of the complex review process, members of the public may contact the commission's public advisor's office at (800) 822-6228.

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 740-3516 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.

Links

-- California Energy Commission's Orange Grove project Web site

-- PDF of the commission's "staff assessment" ---- 49 megabytes

-- List of staff assessment sections