In yet another set back for SDG&E the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered a "re-circulation of the draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Sunrise Powerlink." According to the Union Tribune article the CPUC would like further in depth analysis of the technical feasibility and the economic benefits of the various alternatives cited in the DEIR.
What does this mean for us?
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The CPUC's decision is delayed to the end of the year and not the end of the summer as was orignally planned. This gives us more time to get the word out to the public, politicians and others that the Sunrise PowerLink is not in our best interests environmentally, economically or technically.
You can read the Union Tribune Article here.
Stay tuned for more opportunities to participate in stopping this project and plan on attending Ranchita Rocks at the end of the summer. 
Bob
You would think that the Monday 1PM schedule would deter many Sunrise PowerLink opponents from making the trek out to Borrego Springs for the final CPUC hearing.
Not true!
This is a passionate group of grassroots people who don't want unnecessary 500 KW powerlines strung through protected California State Park land and pristine San Diego back country. 
This hearing was different in a couple ways. First it was the only time that 4 of the 5 CPUC Commisioners would be present and second it was the last chance for the public to express their concerns, opinions, and views to the CPUC.
While most attendees such as myself merely had to endure drizzle, thick fog and road construction to get to the hearing, Dennis Trafecanty , a Sunrise Powerlink opponent, ran 50 miles overnight throught the Desert to arrive at the Borrego Springs Resort by 12 noon. How is that for making a statement ?!
Another hilight was the banner that the Sierra Club put together with all of the postcards that were collected at Earth Day. During Micah's public comment a group of us walked the banner in (all 27' of it) and paraded it in front of the commissioners. Pretty fun to do and I think it was very effective. 
I am glad there were so many people that were willing to drive out to Borrego to voice their opinions against this ridiculous proposal. Besides the core group I am starting to notice some new faces so it looks like the word is getting out. Now we wait until we hear from the CPUC. They are expected to make a decision sometime this summer so check your local papers and the Smart Energy Website for updates.
Bob
This past Saturday morning Mary, Kaiel, Diesel and I joined David Hogan and the Sierra Club on an advocacy hike out in Ramona. The hike was an effort to illustrate that in addition to scarring a path through Anza Borrego, the Sunrise Powerlink would run through some beautiful areas of the San Diego backcountry.
The weather for the hike was a bit on the warm side and hats and sunscreen were necessary. We hiked in the morning sun for close to an hour and in that time we saw an eagle, a flat-tailed horned lizard and a pretty cool looking large brown spider.
Thanks to Micah for organizing this hike and thanks to David Hogan for sharing his knowledge. It is good to see that we have so many that are dedicated to stopping this proposal.
Slideshow with all the pictures.
The Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions campaign could not have had better timing to promote its' Sunrise PowerLink alternatives.
On Saturday I helped set up a table at the Patagonia store in Cardiff to take Polaroid pictures and collect comments from people. As opposed to SDG&E's $45,000 glossy ad campaign that is rammed down our throats, these grassroot type events reach people on a more personal level, giving them the chance to ask questions. The event was a bit on the small side but we did manage to collect alot of postcards that will be presented to the California Public Utilities Commission on May 12 in Borrego Springs.
On a much grander scale, and I mean GRANDER, Earth Day in Balboa Park is like a huge rock concert with tens of thousands of people. By the time I arrived at the Smart Energy Solutions Booth for my shift the Polaroid film was gone and according to Micah (the Smart Energy Solutions organizer) they had collected 300 comment cards. I also met Larry Hogue from the Desert Protective Council who was kind enough to give my website a mention in his great BLOG. I think the Sierra Club, various watchdog groups and community organizations are doing a great job on getting the word out to the public.
We don't need the Sunrise PowerLink !!
Next stop Borrego Springs on May 12 for the CPUC hearing.
Bob
I was invited to attend the SANDAG meeting by the San Diego Sierra Club so I decided to drive downtown to give my comments .
I am embarassed to say that I never even knew the purpose of SANDAG and what the acronym stood for. 
For those of you that don't know SANDAG is the San Diego Association of Governments and is governed by a Board of Directors composed of mayors, councilmembers, and county supervisors from each of the San Diego's 19 local governments.
From what I have understood SANDAG has already decided in favor of the Sunrise PowerLink. In a nutshell the Regional Planning Committee (RPC) has already recommended to the SANDAG Board of Director's that they support SDG&E's Sunrise PowerLink project. Kind of makes you wonder if SANDAG is just going through the motions on hearing public input.
There were a lot of "suits" in the meeting room so I began to worry that all the comments were going to be one-sided and slanted towards why we need the Sunrise PowerLink. Luckily as it got closer to 9AM some familiar faces began to show up. Some notable comments were given by Dennis Trafecanty, Kathleen Beck and others.
I was also excited to hear that my city council members Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth are opposed to the Sunrise PowerLink. I had emailed the Encinitas City Council a while back and received this response:
Dear Mr. Baran;
Our council has had presentations on it, but have taken no position. I personally believe we need greater redundency re our electrical supplies, and doubt we can locate enough in-basin power plants, or economically meet our needs completely using distributed generation. So in general I am supportive of the need for aded transmission lines / capacity, but have no position relative to any specific alignment. I figure that's really up to the CPUC, not the City of Encinitas, and tend to focus my energies on that which is within my area of responsibility.
I hope that helps;
Unfortunately before I was given an opportunity to speak the SANDAG Board decided to take a 45 minute closed session break. Couldn't wait around any longer and handed my comments to the clerk. Micah from the Sierra Club told me later that they read my comments out loud, so I do feel a little better.
Be sure to look in tomorrow's paper for the outcome of the SANDAG vote.
Update : (Thanks Kelly)
SANDAG board backs Sunrise Powerlink by 17-3 vote
Bob
Boy aren't you glad your utility bill is going to pay for SDG&E's media blitz?
http://www.10news.com/news/15772054/detail.html?rss=sand&psp=news.
Part of the biased 10 News Article states,
"The Sunrise Powerlink is a proposal to build a 150-mile line to link solar and geothermal fields in the Imperial Valley to San Diego".
Not true.
SDG&E 's real motive is to tap into cheap fossil-fuel generated energy from Mexico and sell the power to Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Billboards, Internet advertising and radio ads?
Don't be swayed. SDG&E stands to make a LOT of money if the Sunrise Powerlink goes through, and guess who is going to foot the bill? That's right you and me.
Why not use the $1.3 Billion to subsidize solar initiatives for home owners and businesses so we can become energy independent?
Oh that's right SDG&E won't make money this way.
Let's not forget what SDGE did to us in the early 2000's with price gouging, deceit, and rolling blackouts.
Governor Schwarzenegger lived up to his Terminator persona and dropped his brother-in-law Bobby Shriver from the CA State Parks Commission.
Is this move in response to Commissionser Shriiver's opposition to the Sunrise PowerLink and the 241 Toll Road Extension which the Governor supports ?
My guess is as good as yours but ahem...
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The following quote is from the LA Times :
Several environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Surfrider Foundation and the California State Parks Foundation, said they submitted a letter to state Senate leaders Tuesday requesting a hearing into the oversight of state parks. They based their request on Schwarzenegger's treatment of the two commissioners, his proposal to close 48 parks because of the state's fiscal crisis and his support for development in parks.
In case you didn't know Governor Schwarzenegger supports the Sunrise PowerLink and has sent a letter to the California Public Utilies Commission urging them to follow suit.
Governor Letter To CPUC (PDF 183.80 kb)
If you would like to respond to Governor Schwarzenegger and tell him why the Sunrise PowerLink is the wrong choice for San Diego write a letter to the editor..
EDUCATE THE GOVERNOR: WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR!
WHO: letters@uniontrib.com and letters@latimes.com
WHAT: Letters must be less than 150 words and include full name, address and phone number.
Thanks,
Bob
I took a long lunch and drove to downtown San Diego to the California Public Utilities Commission meeting at the San Diego County Building. Of course downtown parking is a nightmare, so $13.00 later I showed up and signed in with the Sierra Club. I came to find later that there was free parking right next to the County building. Note to self : read email thoroughly next time. 
We all stood around while the proponents of the PowerLink ; various politicians, business owners and SDG&E paid flunkies each got up and said how much we need the Sunrise PowerLink to ensure San Diego's economic future. It was really hard for us to listen to but we toughed it out and held up anti-PowerLink signs and banners. .jpg)
It was pretty funny because the pro PowerLink group were wearing green T-Shirts to signify enviro-friendly or whatever you want to call it. Whatever side you are on : putting 160 ft. 500 Kw towers through a State Park is far from being environmentally friendly.
I signed up to speak at the desk and was given number 76 which at 3 minutes a pop meant I would have been there almost 4 hours waiting. Luckily there were a lot of people speaking that were far more articulate than me and they pretty much said what I wanted to say. I turned in my speech to the desk and drove back to UCSD.
I heard some great points being made. One of the strongest I thought was a lady who stated "Why are we even here? When a place is designated as a State Park why are we allowing businesses and politicians to come in and try to take it away?". Good point and I hope the CPUC really thinks hard on that one.
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I am second from the right
I drove out to Ramona Monday evening to attend the Community Briefing put on by the Sierra Club. Very informative meeting regarding SDG&E's proposed Sunrise Powerlink. To summarize, regardless of the lies SDG&E is feeding the public, the Sunrise Powerlink Project :
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Would be a huge cost burden to ratepayers
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Will do nothing to reduce global warming
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Will irreversably damage our rural back country including Anza Borrego and the Clevland National Forest.
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Will rely on fossil fuel generated sources form Mexicali
Author Bill Powers discusses the
PowerLink's shortcomings |
A little music to get the crowd fired up. |
Powerlink and fire danger illustration |
If you are interested in further reading, I found a great document on the San Diego Smart Energy Website which discusses "Myth versus Facts" . You can view it by clicking the link below.
SRPL_mythvsfact.pdf (858.91 kb)
Here are a few recent articles discussing alternatives to SDG&E's proposed PowerLink Project.
This photo from
http://www.theabf.org/hottopics.htm shows the footprint of the proposed Powerlink route.
If you have not heard about the proposed SDG&E Powerlink project now is the time to voice your concerns to the CA State Parks Commission and the Public Utilities Commission.
After receiving this flyer in the mail from the Sierra Club I decided to drive out to Borrego Springs after work to attend the hearing. Very long drive from UCSD. I do NOT recommend doing the Banner grade in the dark.
When I arrived at the Borrego Springs Resort I was happy to see that it was standing room only.
There is a lot of opposition to this unprecedented de-designation of state park lands.
A lot of people stood up to voice their opinion . SDG&E has resorted to scare tactics arguing that if we don't have something in place by 2010 we are all going to be in the dark. C'mon now SDG&E. I would probably opt for using candle power if it means we could avoid cutting a path through Anza Borrego. The hilight of the evening for me was a great speech by Diana Lindsay who co-authored "The Anza-Borrego Desert Region", a book we have used for years.
I left after about an hour and a half because I knew I had about an hour of driving to get to the area I wanted to camp. Rolled into Carrizo Creek around 9:30 PM. Had a couple of beers, cranked up the Maggiolina tent and fell asleep.
Next day I did a little exploring and found a Geocache by accident. I guess you are suppose to have a GPS to be able to find these capsules but I just happened to be looking down and there it was. Geocaching is kind of a game where geocachers hide these capsules with various items including a log book and then publish the coordinates on the Intenet. If you take an item, you are suppose to leave one in return. I left a couple of things along with a log entry and stuck it back in the bush.