December 6, 2006

Ranchers oppose Powerlink
Santa Ysabel Valley angered by proposal
By J. Harry Jones, Union Tribune

SANTA YSABEL ­ When plans for the Sunrise Powerlink route were first announced early this year, maps showed the central segment running behind hills well to the west of state Route 79.
The Santa Ysabel Valley, known to many as one of the most beautiful areas of the county, would have been spared. Travelers along the highway would have never known that enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of homes was flowing nearby.

But San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s controversial $1.3 billion project has been challenged all along its proposed 150-mile route.

The state park system strongly opposes plans to build part of the line through the heart of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. People in southern Ramona object to it running near their San Diego Country Estates homes. Rancho Peñasquitos residents are upset about the route through their community.

The result: The Santa Ysabel Valley may soon feature 155-foot-tall steel towers as part of its picturesque landscape. The reason: It's the path of least resistance.
When the maps came out showing the alignment of the central segment of the transmission line, roughly from Lake Henshaw south to Santa Ysabel, environmental red flags were raised.
As planned, the line would have run through part of San Dieguito River Park, specifically over land bought for more than $15 million over the past six years by the county and the agency that oversees the park.

Over the course of several months, SDG&E was convinced that running the line through the area was a bad idea. The utility had proposed the route to avoid the visual blight in the Santa Ysabel Valley, where so many people would see the towers. But company officials were convinced that the environmental damage that would be caused by the more westerly route was too great.
"The public agency (that oversees the park) and environmental groups were asking us to go east," SDG&E spokesman Scott Crider said. "It's the difference between public lands and private lands."
Now, however, the private owners of land in the valley are crying foul.
The Santa Ysabel Valley consists of about 18,000 acres owned by six families. Some are fourth-generation valley residents. Since the 1800s, the land has been used to raise cattle, and for a long time to support a dairy.

The idea of a power line bisecting their properties, as close as a quarter-mile west of Route 79, is so appalling to the ranchers that at times they fumble for words to express their outrage.
"My father has lived in the same house for 75 years," Katy Moretti said. "Now he's going to look out his window every day and see this power line."

Moretti's great-uncle, Fiorenzo Moretti, and his friend Charles Martin bought the Santa Ysabel Ranch from Jose Ortega and Edward Stokes around 1893. It was an original Spanish land grant consisting of 17,719 acres.

"This isn't just about a half-dozen landowners," said John Farkash, who owns another ranch. "It would be a tragedy if the visual resources are not revered. This view is just as important as the county's waterfront." It's as if oil companies wanted to build wells off Del Mar, he said.
It was just behind Farkash's property where a brush fire began last week. The blaze was started by a downed power line, though one much smaller than those proposed for Powerlink. "Once this line goes in, we'll never get the valley back," said Kathy Cauzza, whose family has worked the land for more than a century.

SDG&E officials emphasize that the route of the line is still uncertain. In August, the utility filed its application to build the project with the California Public Utilities Commission. It will be up to the commission to approve the line and the route it will take. "We're still at step one here," Crider said. "Even though we've been talking about this project for a year, we're really still at the beginning."

The commission also has directed SDG&E to present an alternative route that doesn't cross Anza-Borrego State Park. The company has proposed one that is much farther south. But it maintains, for several reasons, that the northern route through the park and the Santa Ysabel Valley is more feasible.

The utility contends that the Sunrise Powerlink is needed to ensure a reliable supply of electricity for the county for many years, and that the line would allow it to tap renewable sources of electricity it says will be developed in Imperial Valley.

As the region expands and the demand for electricity increases, company officials say, the 500-kilovolt line beginning in the Imperial Valley and winding its way to the coast is vital to avoid rolling blackouts.

The towers from the Imperial County almost to Lake Henshaw would be massive, at some points 170 feet tall. They would carry 500 kilowatts, enough electricity to power about 650,000 homes.
The towers would get smaller as they headed south and west. Those in the Santa Ysabel Valley would be between 100 and 155 feet tall, carrying dual 230,000-volt lines.

SDG&E wants the line completed by 2010, and has launched an extensive public-relations campaign. Many county leaders and business groups support the project, but many neighborhood and environmental groups are opposed.

In May, before the route was moved farther east, the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority sent a protest letter to SDG&E. Directors said they strongly opposed the route because it "would traverse through a pristine and publicly protected segment of the river park between Lake Sutherland and Highway 79.

"The JPA urges SDG&E to reconsider a route within or near Highway 79 as the preferred route, in an area that is relatively level, is more accessible from existing roads, and is biologically less sensitive." The letter also urged SDG&E to place the lines underground, something the utility has agreed to do near Ramona and through Rancho Peñasquitos.

SDG&E has not endorsed underground lines through the valley, which would cost eight to 10 times more than building them overhead. Those costs would eventually be covered by ratepayers.
"The whole area is incredibly scenic," Susan Carter, the river park authority's deputy director, said in a recent interview.

"Wherever they put it will be a problem. It's a dilemma. It honestly is. I understand the ranchers' argument very well. Our thought was, 'At least it's an existing travel corridor that already has some utility lines.' " The ranchers, however, don't see things that way. A sign in front of one of the ranches just off the highway reads: "Blue Sky or Cold Steel. Sunrise Powerlink Go Underground or Go Away."

Glenda Kimmerly and her husband moved to one of the six ranches five years ago. The line would run close to their home. "Why would people want to come out here if there are huge power lines?" Kimmerly asked. She wonders if businesses in Santa Ysabel and nearby Julian might be hurt. Perhaps some people won't bother to make the long drive to the area if they know they will be met with views of steel towers and wires, rather than idyllic vistas, she said.

The ranchers are concerned with issues other than scenic views. They worry that the lines will somehow harm their cattle, although SDG&E says there is no scientific evidence to support that notion. The ranchers also have the practical concern that the towers will reduce their property values because they will make the valley less appealing.