SAN MARCOS — More than 75 people spoke in person or by phone Thursday morning to urge the California Public Utilities Commission to reject San Diego Gas & Electric’s proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink, a 145-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line, as currently designed.
For the roughly 70 area residents who spoke in person, dozens more crowded the San Marcos City Council chambers to support them for the commission’s public hearing. Dozens of project opponents were decked out in a variety of bright yellow T-shirts proclaiming “Save Fallbrook,” “Save Temecula,” “Save Palomar Mountain” and “Save Warner Springs.”
Speakers included elected officials, university professors, chamber of commerce and planning group representatives, ranchers, firefighters, small-business owners, retirees and parents raising families.
Many came from communities along the proposed Powerline route, including Warner Springs, Temecula, Palomar Mountain, Oak Grove, Lake Henshaw and Borrego Springs. Several brought young children.
Roughly 10% of the speakers on this issue were there to back SDG&E’s proposal. Other regulatory items before the PUC also drew public feedback, although the Powerlink received far more comments. Supporters of the proposed transmission project included representatives of electrical workers unions, the San Diego Building Industry Association, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Golden Pacific Powerlink is a proposed 500-kilovolt electric transmission line that would run 145 miles from the existing Imperial Valley Substation near El Centro northwest to a proposed new substation east of San Clemente, just north of Camp Pendleton.
The transmission line would bring enough electrical power to supply between 1 million and 1.5 million homes.
While supporters spoke of the economic impact of providing well-paying construction and electrician jobs, as well as meeting California’s growing demand for electricity, opponents’ comments focused on the negative impacts such a project could bring:
- Elevated risk of fires from arcing lines.
- Danger of firefighting aircraft hitting the lines.
- Increased costs for fire insurance.
- Decreased availability of fire insurance.
- Environmental damage from constructing 200-foot-tall towers.
- Lower property values due to increased fire risk and visual blight.
Those living in the proposed path also objected that the electricity carried by the proposed Powerlink would not serve their communities, but would instead be transported through their neighborhoods en route to Orange County.
San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones spoke first. While she publicly opposes the proposed route, Jones used her remarks simply to welcome everyone to San Marcos and encourage those in attendance to stay involved.
County Supervisor Jim Desmond, whose District 5 includes much of the proposed route, reminded the five PUC members that the existing Sunrise Powerlink was intentionally routed around Anza-Borrego Desert State Park — while the new proposal cuts right through it.
“The future is smaller, modular, atomic power plants, rather than power lines going everywhere,” Desmond told the commission.
Temecula Mayor Jessica Alexander followed Desmond, urging commissioners to look beyond the proposed route’s technical details and consider the families whose homes and safety could be affected.
“These are not lines on a map: These are families,” Alexander said. “Safety must not be compromised for cost or efficiency.”
As each speaker finished, the audience greeted them with an enthusiastic ovation — a pattern that held throughout the three-hour hearing, except for the muted applause for those speaking in support.
Matt Rahn, a Cal State San Marcos faculty member who founded and leads the university’s Wildfire Science and Urban Interface degree program, said transmission lines can slow wildfire response by forcing aerial crews to navigate around lines hundreds of feet above the ground.
“These are operational risks you should take into account,” Rahn told the commission.
Ann Atkins, who owns a ranch in Fallbrook with her husband, Bob, said they lost everything in a previous fire and that adding another substantial fire risk would only drive up fire insurance costs. Bob Atkins added that previous fires in the area had been caused by arcing transmission lines.
A rancher from Anza-Borrego said he had already received a letter from SDG&E letting him know the utility would be surveying his property, which he said was likely a precursor to seizing part of it for the proposed line.
“How many eminent domains will happen with this project?” he asked the PUC.
At one point, a speaker turned and asked the room how many supported the route. When he asked who opposed it, the room erupted in cheers.
Temecula-area real estate agent Racheal Allen reminded the commission that for most families, their home is their single largest investment.
Another Temecula resident warned that arcing transmission lines could spark a devastating wildfire, invoking recent tragedies.
“We do not want to be the next Eden or Palisades,” the resident said.
Chris Murphy, of Oak Grove, told commissioners he was there on behalf of local wildlife.
“The wild creatures could not be here today due to their aversion to carpooling,” Murphy said, drawing laughter from the dais and crowd.
David Baxter, who serves on the Fallbrook Public Utility District board, said the project also puts the area’s water supply at risk. The Santa Margarita River provides much of the water for Fallbrook and Camp Pendleton, and he said that if a line blew into the river during a storm or mishap, the river could be unusable for a sustained period.
The few who spoke in favor included members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers locals 47 and 569.
Jeff Meyer, senior manager at the Bodewell Group, reminded the PUC that the state continues to push electrification over fossil fuels.
“This project will be needed,” Meyer said in reference to meeting statewide energy goals.
But those perspectives were outnumbered Thursday, with speaker after speaker sharing stories of fire insurance premiums doubling over a five-year span, attempts by electrical utilities to gain legal and financial immunity for fires caused by their equipment, concrete tower bases replacing flood-absorbing soil and the numerous fault lines the proposed path crosses.
Stephani Baxter, a member of the Fallbrook Planning Group, summarized the hearing at one point by waving her arm across the gallery.
“What you see in front of you is 145 miles of opposition,” Baxter said.
As this was a public hearing to gather input, no vote or commission discussion took place.
The Public Utilities Commission has five members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. According to its official website, the PUC “regulates privately owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies, in addition to authorizing video franchises.”
