While controversy rages over the Sunrise Powerlink line, only a few members of the public attended a meeting seeking input on the federal government’s proposed environmental impact report for transmission corridor projects slated for California and 10 other western states. Meanwhile, on January 10, the Department of Energy was sued by a conservation group for failing to analyze the corridor impacts of the Southwestern U.S. project. That proposal aims to alleviate serious congestion that affects most of Southern California, as well as the southwest corner of Arizona. It includes Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial counties and three counties in Southwest Arizona, but excludes Las Vegas. The federal transmission corridor designation--which would expedite permitting for transmission lines--would be effective for 12 years. “The Energy Department cannot turn southern California and western Arizona into an energy farm for Los Angeles and San Diego without taking a hard look at the environmental impacts of doing so,” said Amy Atwood, Center for Biological Diversity staff attorney. During the first public workshop held January 8 at the California Energy Commission, three people spoke. They urged the federal agency representatives to give top priority to renewable energy and sensitive habitat protection. James Harvey, a member of the California Desert Coalition that opposes the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s transmission Greenpath Project, insisted that instead of new wide transmission corridors, which will be 3,500 feet in width, that existing high voltage lanes be upgraded to accommodate new lines. Power projects, he said, need to be built closer to where electricity is consumed. Under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy were authorized to determine regional transmission routes and override state interests if a state fails to act on a transmission proposal within a year. Federal agency representatives said the programmatic analysis was general and that specific ones would be developed for the various corridor proposals. The risk of fires from power lines was voiced as another reason for objecting to more transmission lines, particularly in dry areas like Southern California that suffered devastating fires a few months ago.