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

Alpine, Supervisor Jacob Warn SDG&E & Forest Service of Wildfires

A San Diego Union-Tribune reader submitted an editorial letter "SDG&E jumps gun on Sunrise link" over the weekend, indicating that "On June 16, Sempra (SDG&E) or one of its contractors were using helicopters to land on the Cleveland National Forest sites to continue work on the huge electrical towers and pads where there is a 'stop work order' on federal lands."

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob is opposed to the Sunrise Powerlink project, saying "It’s clear and eminent danger if this line goes through; there is no way to mitigate fire risk." Jacob's comments came as she organized an Alpine community meeting when the National Forest Service chose not to hold one. Any public comment will be recorded and submitted to the Forest Service tomorrow.

According to Debra Reed, a Sempra Energy vice president and former SDG&E CEO, “The time to prepare for fires is before you smell smoke in the air. We’ve been privileged to partner with hundreds of nonprofit groups over the years to meet local needs, especially when it comes to community health and safety, education and the environment.” According to the power utility, "In addition to managing existing trees, SDG&E plants and donates new trees every year, contributing more than 1,000 trees to communities in 2008 alone."

In 2009, the manager of SDG&E's vegetation management program testified before California's Public Utilities Commission that SDG&E's failure to manage specifically identified trees were a cause of at least one 2007 county wildfire, mainly because he didn't get a written contractor's memo requesting that the previously-identified tree be trimmed. Reed was SDG&E CEO during the wildfires and at the time SDG&E employee Don Akau gave his CPUC consumer protection testimony.

According to the California Public Utilities Code, every case of utility employee negligence in the performance of duties shall be an act of negligence by the public utility under section 2109. SDG&E recently reached a settlement with CPUC to bill all customers in SDG&E's service area for $25 million in wildfire damages to utility equipment, where Sempra Energy shareholders got a bill for their part of less than $7 million, not a bad deal by comparison.

SDG&E currently estimates that power lines will be underground in the County of San Diego by 2063. However, there are no SDG&E plans to put the either the Sunrise Powerlink project underground through the Cleveland National Forest nor surrounding SDG&E's proposed substation upgrade in Chula Vista.


10news: Alpine Residents Concerned Over Sunrise Powerlink Project

SDG&E ENERGIZING COMMUNITIES: Teaming up for fire safety

SDG&E Computer Model Failed to Predict 2007 Rice Wildfire

Sunrise Powerlink Comments to Cleveland National Forest Supervisor

Dear Customers: $25 Million Uninsured Wildfire Billing by SDG&E

SDG&E Files CPUC Application for Replacement South Bay Substation

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

Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”

A San Diego Union-Tribune reader submitted an editorial letter "SDG&E jumps gun on Sunrise link" over the weekend, indicating that "On June 16, Sempra (SDG&E) or one of its contractors were using helicopters to land on the Cleveland National Forest sites to continue work on the huge electrical towers and pads where there is a 'stop work order' on federal lands."

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob is opposed to the Sunrise Powerlink project, saying "It’s clear and eminent danger if this line goes through; there is no way to mitigate fire risk." Jacob's comments came as she organized an Alpine community meeting when the National Forest Service chose not to hold one. Any public comment will be recorded and submitted to the Forest Service tomorrow.

According to Debra Reed, a Sempra Energy vice president and former SDG&E CEO, “The time to prepare for fires is before you smell smoke in the air. We’ve been privileged to partner with hundreds of nonprofit groups over the years to meet local needs, especially when it comes to community health and safety, education and the environment.” According to the power utility, "In addition to managing existing trees, SDG&E plants and donates new trees every year, contributing more than 1,000 trees to communities in 2008 alone."

In 2009, the manager of SDG&E's vegetation management program testified before California's Public Utilities Commission that SDG&E's failure to manage specifically identified trees were a cause of at least one 2007 county wildfire, mainly because he didn't get a written contractor's memo requesting that the previously-identified tree be trimmed. Reed was SDG&E CEO during the wildfires and at the time SDG&E employee Don Akau gave his CPUC consumer protection testimony.

According to the California Public Utilities Code, every case of utility employee negligence in the performance of duties shall be an act of negligence by the public utility under section 2109. SDG&E recently reached a settlement with CPUC to bill all customers in SDG&E's service area for $25 million in wildfire damages to utility equipment, where Sempra Energy shareholders got a bill for their part of less than $7 million, not a bad deal by comparison.

SDG&E currently estimates that power lines will be underground in the County of San Diego by 2063. However, there are no SDG&E plans to put the either the Sunrise Powerlink project underground through the Cleveland National Forest nor surrounding SDG&E's proposed substation upgrade in Chula Vista.


10news: Alpine Residents Concerned Over Sunrise Powerlink Project

SDG&E ENERGIZING COMMUNITIES: Teaming up for fire safety

SDG&E Computer Model Failed to Predict 2007 Rice Wildfire

Sunrise Powerlink Comments to Cleveland National Forest Supervisor

Dear Customers: $25 Million Uninsured Wildfire Billing by SDG&E

SDG&E Files CPUC Application for Replacement South Bay Substation

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

On "SDG&E reaches accord in wildfires"

Next Article

Feds Propose Future Guidance For SDG&E, Other Utility Solar Farm Sites

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