FEB 15 DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON 3 MAJOR ENERGY PROJECTS IN EAST COUNTY

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Tule Wind, ECO Substation and Energia Sierra Juarez energy/transmission proposals


February 10, 2010 – The California Public Utilities Commission invites public comments on three major energy projects proposed for East County. SDG&E maintains the projects are necessary to meet future energy needs, but some backcountry residents want to pull the plug on the proposals, citing potential fire danger and environmental damage.

The Tule Wind project, proposed in the McCain Valley 60 miles east of San Diego, could produce up to 200 MW of power and lower C02 emissions by 250,000 tons per year. The proposal includes transmission lines and roads, as well as wind turbines. Recent catastrophic failure of all 75 wind turbines at a wind farm on the Campo Indian reservation, which remains out of commission more than two months after storm damage, has heightened community concerns about safety and reliability of wind generation in East County.
 

The ECO Substation is an electrical station proposed by SDG&E southeast of Jacumba. The project would also necessitate transmission lines and a 600% expansion of the existing substation in Boulevard.
Energia Sierra Juarez has applied for a presidential permit to run high-voltage lines from Mexico north into eastern areas of San Diego County in the U.S.
 

“These three projects are reliant on the Sunrise Powerlink,” Donna Tisdale, founder of Backcountry Against Dumps (BAD) and chair of the Boulevard Planning Group, testified at a January 28 scoping hearing on the projects. She argued that approval of Powerlink may be overturned in court and seeks a halt to approval of the new projects.
 

Her organizations oppose all three projects. Should projects be approved over their objections, she seeks mitigation measures such as new fire stations with full-time paid staff.
Descriptions of all three projects can be viewed at the CPUC site:

 

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/dudek/ECOSUB/ECOSUB.htm

 

More information on these projects, including potential problems, can be found at Backcountry Against Dumps (BAD), a citizens organization that has raised concerns over these proposals: www.backcountryagainstdumps.org .

To submit comments, contact the following:
 

Project email: ecosub@dudek.com
 

Project fax and voicemail: (800) 371-8854

The CPUC's project manager is:
 

Iain Fisher, CPUC Project Manager
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco CA 94102
Tel. (415) 355-5580
Fax (415) 703-2200

The BLM project manager is:

 

Thomas Zale, BLM Project Manager
Bureau of Land Management, El Centro Field Office
1661 S. 4th Street
El Centro, CA 92243
Tel. (760) 337-4420
 


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