SDG&E’s Powerlink on Shaky Ground

San Diego Gas & Electric’s proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission project got the thumbs down in a proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision. The application for the high voltage lines should be rejected because it likely will be costly and neither make or break California’s mandate to have one-fifth of it power supplies come from renewable resources by 2010, CPUC administrative law judge Jean Vieth concluded in a tentative decision released on Halloween. However, an alternate proposal by CPUC member Dian Grueneich would allow the project to be built along an alternative route. This route is considered less environmentally-damaging because part of it would run underground and it would avoid both the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and sensitive forest lands. The mixed news offered tricks and treats to supporters and opponents of the $1.3 billion, 150-mile transmission line that would traverse much of San Diego and neighboring Imperial counties. “It takes a lot of integrity and conviction for an administrative law judge to issue a decision that he or she knows will be controversial,” said Michael Shames, the San Diego-based Utility Consumers’ Action Network executive director. Shames added that Vieth and her colleague Steven Weissman “took the high and rougher road by honoring the evidentiary record and arriving at a reasoned rejection rather than giving the commissioners what they clearly wanted … a path by which they could approve the line.” Meanwhile, SDG&E CEO Michael Niggli trumpeted the alternate decision sponsored by Grueneich. “We are pleased the decision supports the Sunrise Powerlink and agrees the line is needed,” he said. If the commission votes to reject the Powelink application, the utility could seek approval from federal regulators. The U.S. Department of Energy designated San Diego County part of a region suffering from transmission needs a year ago and included Southern California in a federal transmission corridor. If the state denies SDG&E’s request to build the line, the DOE position backs federal “backstop authority” that would send the proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC is seen as less interested in the environmental and local issues in transmission siting than the CPUC (Circuit, Oct. 7, 2007). Vieth’s October 31 ruling states, “Of the more than 400 individuals who have commented on Sunrise during our public participation hearings, the vast majority oppose one or more Sunrise alternatives because of impacts on community values.” Her proposal also found that: -SDG&E’s service area probably will not experience a power shortfall until 2014; -Powerlink isn’t needed to meet SDG&E’s renewables obligation of obtaining 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2010; -Other generation-based alternatives can meet SDG&E’s eventual reliability needs more economically and with fewer significant environmental impacts; -The project would potentially generate significant ratepayer costs; and, -It would cause numerous adverse environmental impacts. Grueneich’s alternative proposed decision conditions “approval of Sunrise on SDG&E developing a compliance plan for commission approval to ensure that the Final Environmentally Superior Southern Route will be used to deliver substantial amounts of Imperial Valley renewable generation to the California market, including San Diego.” Her alternative would allow construction of the line along the route viewed as most environmentally-friendly by the final 10,000-page environmental impact report released mid-October (Circuit, Oct. 17, 2008) The route, referred to as the “Environmentally Superior Southern Route,” would be 123 miles long, 8.3 miles of which would be underground. It would cross 19.2 miles of national forest land, but within acceptable land use zones, and be co-located for 36 miles with the existing 500 kV Southwest Powerlink, which feeds power from Arizona into San Diego County. SDG&E filed its application seeking approval of the project in December 2005 for the 500 kV transmission line. The utility stated it was “needed by 2010 for grid reliability, to meet renewable energy goals and to mitigate overall energy costs.” It has faced considerable opposition from local environmental organizations. Approval of the alternative decision would be predicated upon commission support of an SDG&E compliance plan to ensure that substantial amounts of Imperial Valley renewable resources would be delivered over the Powerlink. The proposed alternative decision also declares that: -Although the Powerlink is not needed to meet the 20 percent renewables requirement, it helps meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals by facilitating renewable procurement; -If the Powerlink were used to deliver renewable power at 33 percent levels, it would generate over $100 million per year in ratepayer benefits; -The recommended route avoids the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and all tribal lands, unlike some of the other proposed routes; -The other environmentally preferred alternatives are infeasible for meeting the renewables goals. UCAN’s Shames said the route proposed in the alternative decision “has some interesting elements,” but that UCAN is “still concerned about the ultimate costs associated with both building the line and committing to a 33 percent renewable portfolio standard--voluntarily--by 2014.” Parties in the proceeding may file comments on the proposed decisions and/or alternate proposed decision by Nov. 20, and reply comments by Nov. 25. The CPUC is expected to vote on the matter as soon as its Dec. 4 meeting.

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SDG&E’s Powerlink on Shaky Ground

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