Backcountry residents burned up over latest tactic to grab land before court cases on Powerlink are heard

March 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Aiming to begin construction on Sunrise Powerlink this summer, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) is going to court to seek eminent domain powers to force landowners to turn over as many as 80 properties to the utility for construction of the controversial high-voltage power line. The tactic has sparked outrage among many East County residents.

 


“The Bureau of Land Management totally disregarded laws to protect people and nature when it approved the Sunrise Powerlink.  Even the judge presiding over this project with the California Public Utilities Commission agreed with opponents that there’s no need for the project to be built anywhere let alone through communities and the Cleveland National Forest.” - attorney Stephan Volker
 
February 16, 2010 (San Diego)--A lawsuit was filed today aimed at halting construction of San Diego Gas and Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink high-voltage transmission line through southern Imperial and San Diego counties. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Eastern District Court in Sacramento.

 
 


“It simply is not prudent to introduce new projects into an area that is already prone to wildfire and will also reduce the ability of fire fighting agencies…”—Congressman Duncan Hunter, on impacts of the proposed Tule wind energy and Sunrise Powerlink transmission line projects

“Sempra’s track record does not show that it will develop or manage the Baja California wind energy resources properly.” – Congressman Bob Filner
 

By Miriam Raftery
 
February 14, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) have sent letters to federal and state regulatory agencies voicing serious concerns over several major energy projects proposed in East County.

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.

By Miriam Raftery

 “How can you sit there and say it’s safe to be there when that canyon has burned every year—and you’re going to put those towers up, leave us with no power, and we only have one way in and one way out?” -- Myles Thurman, Lakeside

February 3, 2010 (Lakeside) – SDG&E officials received a far-from-warm welcome from Lakeside residents at a community forum last night hosted by the utility to discuss impacts of Sunrise Powerlink. SDG&E plans to hold a follow-up meeting within 30 days.

February 2, 2010 (Lakeside)  SDG&E will host a community meeting with the Lakeside Community Council  tonight at 6 pm. to discuss impacts of Sunrise Powerlink on Lakeside.   Members of the East County Community Action Coalition will also be on hand to provide information on citizens' efforts to halt the controversial high-voltage line. The meeting, whichi is open to the publicf, will be held at the VFW hall at 12650 Lindo Lane.

January 20, 2010 (San Diego's East County) SDG&E has just announced cancellation of this week's community council meetings in Campo and Lakeside due to stormy weather. Those meetings were set for tonight and tomorrow night, respectively. 

SDG&E plans to reschedule and will announce new dates soon, Jennifer Briscoe, spokesperson for the utility company, informed East County Magazine today.  A meeting in Alpine remains scheduled for Feb. 15. 

January 17, 2009 (Alpine) San Diego Gas and Electric’s current proposal for Sunrise Powerlink, including undergrounding high-voltage power lines along Alpine Boulevard, was not well received by 400-plus people at a meeting on January 14th. County Supervisor Dianne Jacob convened the meeting to show the community information left out of the latest report submitted by SDG&E to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in Sacramento.

January 14, 2010 (Alpine) – Supervisor Dianne Jacob is hosting a community meeting to inform the public about new details on potentially devastating impacts of the Sunrise Powerlink.  County representatives will be on hand to present these new findings at 6 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Boulevard.

December 30, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – SDG&E has named 110 people to serve on community councils to make recommendations on how areas should deal with disruptions caused by Sunrise Powerlink, the $1.88 billion high voltage power line project that the utility company wants to build. But many of the project’s most vocal opponents were not invited to participate—and are accusing SDG&E of stacking the deck in its favor.

Supervisor discusses other concerns in exlusive interview with East County Magazine

“I don’t think anybody in Alpine really understands the magnitude of this.” – Supervisor Dianne Jacob

December 10, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – In an exclusive interview with Supervisor Dianne Jacob, East County Magazine obtained new information about the impacts of Sunrise Powerlink on Alpine. In addition, Jacobs disclosed that SDG&E has refused the County access to a new 350 page document filed with the California Public Utilities Commission disclosing potential environmental ramifications of the proposed high-voltage power line.

September 3, 2009 (San Diego)—San Diego Gas & Electric Company has announced plans to develop a new ECO Substation and electrical infrastructure in East County that the company says will connect with its existing power network and enable delivery of clean energy to its customers. The move has drawn praise from key alternative energy interests, but some backcountry residents see the move as a ploy to ease the way for SDG&E to bring power up from Mexico and tie into the company’s controversial planned Sunrise Powerlink project.

 
August 14, 2009 -- The Utility Consumers Action Network has filed two petitions with appellate courts seeking to halt construction of Sunrise Powerlink, Sempra Energy’s high-voltage power line project slated for East County.
 
 

By Miriam Raftery

July 9, 2009 (San Diego, Calif.)- An attorney for three community and environmental groups sent a letter today urging Cleveland National Forest Supervisor William Metz to reject construction of the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line project across the forest. The letter describes in detail numerous legal conflicts between Powerlink and the Forest's overarching management plan. The group also calls on the Forest Service to combine consideration of the Powerlink with an inter-related pending decision: a new Forest Service permit for miles of SDG&E's existing power lines in the forest.

June 8, 2009 (Alpine)--The East County Community Action Coalition (ECCAC), in partnership with The Protect Our Communities Foundation and Backcountry Against Dumps is sponsoring a free legal rights workshop for individuals and businesses directly impacted by the Sunrise Powerlink.

June 4, 2009 -- The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce reports victory in helping to defeat several bills it describes as “business UN-friendly bills." But a coalition opposed to Sunrise Powerlink has taken the Chamber to task for its opposition to one measure which supporters say would, in fact, create jobs in renewable energy production locally. The organization also seeks to persuade the Chamber to reconsider its endorsement of Sunrise Powerlink.
 

May 28, 2009 (San Diego) – Sempra Energy’s California utilities, Southern California Gas Co. (The Gas Company) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), rank No. 1 in customer satisfaction among the largest U.S. investor-owned energy utilities, according to a recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). But some local ratepayers expressed shock at that report, citing popular uprisings against Sempra’s proposed Sunrise Powerlink and planned shut-off of power to backcountry areas, as well as admissions by Sempra that its power lines have been linked to 167 fires in the past five and a half years.

The East County Community Action Coalition (ECCAC) is sponsoring a fundraiser on Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 11-4 pm at Hazy Meadow Ranch in Lakeside, CA. This is an all-county event that will feature live music, raffle, opportunity drawing, carnvial games, pony rides, and more. The organization seeks public help to fund legal action to "sunset" Sunrise Powerlink.

Reprinted with permission from East County Communities Action Coalition (ECCAC)

May 6, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)--On March 23, 2009, the Viejas Bank of Kumeyaay Indians filed their appeal against the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) challenging the agency’s “Record of Decision” on the Sunrise Powerlink.

By George Barnett
 
April 8, 2009 (Alpine)—Over 300 people attended a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) hearing in Alpine tonight on SDG&E’s proposal to shut off power during fire-prone weather conditions. People turned out from El Cajon to In-ko-pah in the desert and the mountain community of Julian; with a smattering from areas unaffected by the proposal, such as Chula Vista. The backdrop to the hearing was the anti-Sunrise PowerLink rally attended by over 600 people in Alpine the night before at which Supervisor Dianne Jacob said of the transmission line’s proponents, “Follow the money!”

March 28, 2009 (Alpine, CA) --The East County Community Action Coalition (ECCAC) has scheduled a Town Hall meeting on Monday, April 6, 2009, from 6-8pm at the Alpine Community Center. The meeting will be a chance for East County residents to get more information about the Sunrise Powerlink's Southern Route. The route affects communities and towns such as Alpine, Boulevard, Campo, Carveacre, Chocolate Canyon, El Monte Valley, Jacumba, Lakeside, and more. County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a vocal opponent of the project for years, will be the keynote speaker.

By Charlene Ayers

February 26, 2009 (Lakeside)--Last night SDG&E had all of its easels up and tables placed so that folks could mozy around the large Lakeside community room and inform themselves about the Sunrise PowerLink. There were approximately 30 black pants and white shirted people there to help. As soon as a person stopped to read, they were surrounded by these cheerful minders, er, messengers. It was like entering Circuit City.

But even with all these smooooth operators inside, there was trouble brewing outside in the hall. It was "The Battle of the Tables."

By Denise Morse

As a Campo property owner and native San Diegan I just can't fathom how 120
miles of transmission lines with 150 ft. high steel towers buzzing and crackling their way into San Diego fits with "America's Finest City" image.

Call me a sore loser, but I just can't get past the fact that two Administrative Law Judges determined that the Sunrise Powerlink (SPL) project was unnecessary. Judge Steve Weissman and Judge Jean Vieth made their decision based on reviewing over 11,000 pages of Environmental Impact Report (EIR) documentation and numerous binders of data supplied by San Diego Gas & Electric.

San Diego Gas & Electric will be at the Lakeside Community Planning Group (LCGP) Mtg on February 18 at 7 PM at the Lakeside Community Center at 9841 Vine Street, Lakeside, CA to discuss the Sunrise Powerlink high-voltage power lines proposed for the El Monte Valley.

A map and view of the proposed powerline path, which would include three sides of the valley, is at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/34534939@N07/oku65G.

By Miriam Raftery

January 27, 2009 (San Diego)--East County Magazine today received a copy of a letter sent by the American Lung Association of California to President Barack Obama in opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's request for the U.S. Forest Service to fast-track approval of Sunrise Powerlink. The letter cites concern that the project, if approved, would negatively impact air quality in San Diego and Imperial Counties, harming people with asthma and other respiratory conditions. Specifically, the Lung Association warns that fossil fuels from Mexico could worsen air quality and that smoke from future fires potentially caused by Powerlink could adversely impact the health of people in our region.

By Miriam Raftery

January 24, 2009 (San Diego's East County)--In the last days of the Bush administration, two federal agencies gave a parting gift to Sempra Energy. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission designated a vast swath of San Diego's East County as a federal energy corridor, paving the way for the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to approve Sempra's controversial Sunrise Powerlink project one day before George W. Bush left office. For construction to commence, however, the U.S. Forest Service (a division of the U.S. Department of Agricultural) must grant approval for the high-voltage power lines to run through Cleveland National Forest, raising the possibility that President Barack Obama's administration could intervene to halt Sempra's plans.

TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE VOICING YOUR OPINION ON POWERLINK, CLICK http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. TO E-MAIL THE NEW USDA SECRETARY TOM VILSACK, CLICK HERE: AgSec@usda.gov