The Powerlink Story

The San Diego region is growing and so is the demand for new supplies of energy. In fact, a new large power plant would need to be built in San Diego every five years just to keep up. Finding the land for these power plants and increased greenhouse gas emissions would result in building more power plants.

To satisfy San Diego’s thirst for power, SDG&E has developed a long-term energy plan that includes a balance of environmentally-friendly conservation and energy efficiency programs, more renewable energy like rooftop solar, and the first new power plants built in decades.

SDG&E will also build the Sunrise Powerlink, a 120-mile transmission line that will carry renewable energy from the Imperial Valley to San Diego.  The project recently received two positive rulings. First, the California Public Utilities Commission reaffirmed its December 2008 vote to approve the line by voting 4-1 to deny requests for a rehearing of the case. The decision stated that no legal errors were found in the four-year-long case, so a rehearing was rejected.

The federal Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) also denied a motion to halt all planning, preconstruction and construction activities related to the transmission line. The IBLA rejected in its entirety the opponents’ request, stating they failed to show any likelihood of “immediate and irreparable harm” if Sunrise activities were allowed to move forward.

After a rigorous environmental review, the U.S. Forest Service issued a Record of Decision in July 2010 approving the construction, operation and maintenance of a 19-mile segment of the transmission line through the Cleveland National Forest. This milestone decision signals the start of the Sunrise Powerlink’s construction in fall 2010.