CA DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO CONSIDER RESOLUTION TO PROMOTE ON-SITE RENEWABLE POWER GENERATION AS ALTERNATIVE TO NEW TRANSMISSION LINES, MASSIVE WIND OR SOLAR FARMS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

March 20, 2009 (El Cajon)—The East County Democratic Club has adopted a resolution calling for local, on-site generation of solar and wind power as alternatives to massive wind and solar farms, which would require new transmission lines including Sunrise Powerlink. Advocates hope to persuade the State Party’s Resolutions Committee to allow the measure to be considered by delegates at the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento in late April.

The resolution notes that large solar arrays and wind farms, while reducing air emissions, cause significant environmental impact, keep the consumer dependent on utility control and pricing of electricity, require the installation of roads through sensitive wilderness areas, and require the installation of large scale transmission lines and substations to service those facilities.

In addition, the resolution cites problems associated with overhead transmission lines that are “costly, unsightly, damaging to the environment, pose excessive risk of wildfire1, limit conventional airborne fire-fighting techniques, are easily damaged by vandalism or terrorism, and consume a significant fraction of the power being transmitted (losses in the USA were estimated at 7.2% in 1995” as reasons why the measure should be adopted.

 In addition, proponents point to  recent advancements in small-scale, on-site wind turbines, photovoltaic electricity generation, passive technologies and conservation and notes that combining such technologies can make generation of energy at or close to the point of use both cost effective and efficient, avoiding transmission line losses and providing a positive net “green collar” job-creation statistic when compared with conventional energy production technologies.

 The resolution, if adopted by the State Democratic Party, calls for support of opportunities to advance on-site passive and active generation of electricity with wind and solar technologies, including” innovative funding approaches to allow homeowners, small businesses and large businesses alike, to rapidly deploy such technologies on millions of residential and business properties by mitigating up-front capital requirements and providing for a means to transfer the investment from one owner to the next and to allow the owner to sell excess power back onto the distribution network.”  The latter would require a change in state law, a change advocated by Supervisor Dianne Jacob and others.

In addition, the resolution calls for de-emphasizing large transmission lines, large solar and wind farms.  It would also seek to have undergrounding of new transmission lines become the primary installation technique—a move aimed at “minimizing environmental and fire-risk impacts and simultaneously making their use economically undesirable, with the result that on-site technologies will find favor.”  The cost to underground two miles of Sunrise Powerlink transmission lines in Alpine has been estimated at $92 million by SDG&E.
If adopted, the resolution’s provisions would become part of the official party platform and reflect the party’s intent, but would not carry the weight of law unless adopted by the California Legislature. 

The measure was  drafted by Raymond Lutz, former candidate for the 77th Assembly District, and Jeanette Hartman, Land Use Committee Chair, Sierra Club of San Diego.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.