March 7, 2006

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Jessie Knight, President

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
402 West Broadway, Suite 1000
San Diego, CA 92101

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RE: Chamber’s position on the Sunrise Powerlink

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Dear Jessie,

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I understand that the Chamber is in the process of evaluating whether it will support SDG&E’s proposed Sunrise Powerlink proposal. I am writing to suggest that the Chamber’s support of the project at this time would be grossly premature and ill-informed and would inure poorly upon the reputation of the Chamber.

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As you know, SDG&E has filed an application for approval of the Powerlink with the CPUC. As you also know all too well, the CPUC’s process calls for informed parties to evaluate a utility application and, if warranted, to submit technical and detailed responses to that proposal. In this case, the Powerlink has generated extensive interest. Almost a dozen well-established parties have intervened in the application – including CPUC staff, other generators and two competing transmission line developers. It is an exceedingly complicated application and will likely be substantially revised by SDG&E later this month, as we expect SDG&E to enter into a joint venture with IID to reroute the line further north.

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Just as UCAN has not taken a formal position on this application, it would behoove the Chamber to delay taking a position until BOTH sides of the issue have been developed through the CPUC process. UCAN has committed $450,000 to fully evaluate the application and is prepared to share that evaluation with the Chamber when it is completed. I can assure you that when you review the input from intervening parties, you will view the SDG&E proposal in a very different light. My consultants have already found major errors in SDG&E’s economic and reliability calculations. I remain hopeful, perhaps naively, that the Chamber will be able to stand up to one of its major financial backers and insist upon a rigorous and informed assessment of this proposal as a precondition for the Chamber’s public position on this matter.

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Respectfully offered,

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Michael Shames

Executive Director

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Cc: Nikki Clay, Chairwoman