Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Uninvited Guests Line the Road to Powerlink Ground-Breaking

— San Diego Gas & Electric held a symbolic ground breaking near here last week, launching the construction of their $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink, the 117-miles electric transmission line that the utility promises will transport electricity cleanly generated in Imperial County to San Diego.

But about 80 protestors &mdash who argue the line has little to do with clean power &mdash did their best to spoil the party, chanting loudly, honking horns and waving signs along the dirt road that SDG&E used to haul several busloads of invited guests out to remote Rough Acres Ranch for the ground-breaking.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played a key role in winning approval for the line and attended the event, called Sunrise the type of “big, bold” project needed to create a clean energy future and said it was key to the development of other solar and renewable energy projects in Imperial County.

But Bill Powers, an engineer who specializes in electric generating systems and is a leading opponent of the project, said Sunrise and similar projects make no economic or environmental sense. A strategy that places solar panels on urban rooftops, said Powers, will avoid the huge costs of building transmission lines to the desert, as well as the environmental damage that will come from large construction projects in the backcountry (one Imperial County project will cover 10 square miles).

Continually declining prices for photovoltaic panels, as well as improvements in the efficiency of these devices will make a future of distributed electric generation even more compelling, said Powers. The only reason for continuing to build expensive power lines and big remote electric facilities is to boost utility company profits, he said.

SDG&E spent more than five years and $450 million just to reach last week’s groundbreaking. The utility has refused to pledge the line will carry only renewably generated power but insists the line will improve regional electric reliability and allow it to reach a state mandate that will require utilities to derive 33 percent of their electricity from green sources by 2020.

Opponents, meanwhile, continue with legal challenges to the project in state and federal courts, as well within regulatory agencies.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024

— San Diego Gas & Electric held a symbolic ground breaking near here last week, launching the construction of their $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink, the 117-miles electric transmission line that the utility promises will transport electricity cleanly generated in Imperial County to San Diego.

But about 80 protestors &mdash who argue the line has little to do with clean power &mdash did their best to spoil the party, chanting loudly, honking horns and waving signs along the dirt road that SDG&E used to haul several busloads of invited guests out to remote Rough Acres Ranch for the ground-breaking.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played a key role in winning approval for the line and attended the event, called Sunrise the type of “big, bold” project needed to create a clean energy future and said it was key to the development of other solar and renewable energy projects in Imperial County.

But Bill Powers, an engineer who specializes in electric generating systems and is a leading opponent of the project, said Sunrise and similar projects make no economic or environmental sense. A strategy that places solar panels on urban rooftops, said Powers, will avoid the huge costs of building transmission lines to the desert, as well as the environmental damage that will come from large construction projects in the backcountry (one Imperial County project will cover 10 square miles).

Continually declining prices for photovoltaic panels, as well as improvements in the efficiency of these devices will make a future of distributed electric generation even more compelling, said Powers. The only reason for continuing to build expensive power lines and big remote electric facilities is to boost utility company profits, he said.

SDG&E spent more than five years and $450 million just to reach last week’s groundbreaking. The utility has refused to pledge the line will carry only renewably generated power but insists the line will improve regional electric reliability and allow it to reach a state mandate that will require utilities to derive 33 percent of their electricity from green sources by 2020.

Opponents, meanwhile, continue with legal challenges to the project in state and federal courts, as well within regulatory agencies.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Next Article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader