Supervisors last month raised significant concerns regarding the proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink Project, a San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) transmission line project preliminarily set to go through Southwest Riverside County.
“The Southwest…has much to protect environmentally, much that supports one of the more significant industries in the region, and that is tourism,” Supervisor Chuck Washington said at the June 23 meeting. “And I believe this would have great impact on that industry, harm the communities in addition to…other impacts [like] potential wildfires.”
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According to SDG&E, the policy-driven project would connect the utility’s Imperial Valley Substation with a new substation in southern Orange County, north of the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, in an effort to reduce congestion, meet the state’s energy goals and enhance the flow of electricity on the statewide grid. In order to do that, the utility has proposed an above-ground 145-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line.
“What many of us in the Southwest have a problem with is the line crosses into Riverside County out Aguanga, that obviously is in my district, and then it parallels the county line coming into Temecula and running along Temecula Creek,” Washington said. “It then crosses the freeway, it goes up into the De Luz area, and eventually it will leave Riverside County to go back into San Diego County to finish the connection.”
The SDG&E website for the project shows six potential structure types for the project, including self-supporting horizontal structures and deadends, delta structures and monopoles.
“We are talking about massive steel transmission towers reaching approximately 200 feet into the air, nearly the height of a 20-story building, carrying 500,000 volts of electricity across our landscapes, homes and businesses,” said Temecula Mayor Jessica Alexander. “These structures would permanently alter some of the most scenic and culturally significant areas of our region.”
Those who spoke at the meeting, including Temecula Councilmember Zak Schwank and Temecula City Manager Aaron Adams, also noted that the line, while going through the county, would not actually benefit county residents.
“San Diego Gas & Electric is not our utility company, [and] these high voltage lines are not intended to power Riverside County,” said Temecula City Manager Aaron Adams. “The proposed path through Riverside County was selected due to its affordability, and hundreds of thousands of Riverside County [residents], now and into the future, will pay the price.”
Concerns about the proposed transmission line route included potential impacts on communities, environmentally sensitive lands, cultural resources, transportation corridors and public safety, including the risk of wildfire in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone with significant wildland-urban interface development.
Due to concerns shared by Washington, the city of Temecula as well as other local agencies, residents and Tribal governments, the supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a formal position expressing “significant concerns,” and directed the executive office to draft letters detailing those concerns, work with other county departments to engage in SDG&E’s pre-filing process and subsequent California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proceedings and coordinate with other affected governmental bodies to identify concerns, sensitive resources and potential alternative alignments.
Additionally, the supervisors directed the executive office to work with county counsel to develop a comprehensive administrative record documenting concerns, formally request information about the proposed project from SDG&E, engage with CPUC staff to ensure the county’s concerns would be incorporated into the environmental review and analysis process and bring back to the board periodic updates on the project.
The supervisors also directed the Riverside County Fire Department to work with other local departments and agencies to prepare or commission a technical wildfire and public safety analysis evaluating the proposed corridor’s potential impacts.
“I think standing up and expressing voices in an appropriate manner will get attention that there [are] second thoughts to this,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel said. “And I’m very glad to see this happening.”
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