Resolution isn't an endorsement (Powerlink)
By J. Harry Jones SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 20, 2007

SANTA YSABEL ­ The agency that oversees the San Dieguito River Park yesterday adopted a resolution urging San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to build its Sunrise Powerlink transmission line underground through the Santa Ysabel Valley.

Not meant as an endorsement of the project, the resolution says only that if the line is approved by the state, the river park's Joint Powers Authority hopes it will be built below ground in that part of the county.

"The Santa Ysabel Valley is a treasured landmark with region-wide public significance, and the Sunrise Powerlink transmission towers (up to 150 feet high) would cause visual blight to this scenic landscape and along a scenic drive," the resolution says in part.

Early last year, SDG&E revealed its preferred route for the 150-mile, $1.3 billion transmission line. It would have taken the line through part of San Dieguito River Park, over land the authority and the county purchased in the last six years for $15 million.

The authority, comprised mostly of elected officials, including county Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Pam Slater-Price, later convinced the utility that a route further east, roughly paralleling state Route 79 in the Santa Ysabel Valley, was less environmentally damaging.

What that meant, however, was that the line would cross numerous private cattle ranches in the valley, which many residents adamantly oppose.

At a meeting last month with Santa Ysabel residents, SDG&E representatives said they had no intention of burying the lines in the valley because it would cost too much ­ roughly eight times more.
The utility contends that Sunrise Powerlink is needed to ensure a reliable supply of electricity for the county for many years, and that the transmission line would allow it to tap renewable sources of electricity it says will be developed in Imperial Valley. The state's Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide by year's end if the line is needed and, if so, what route it should take.