February 28, 2008

Sempra Energy has applied for a federal permit to build a high-voltage transmission line across the international border that will connect a proposed wind-energy plant in Baja California to San Diego's power grid.

The estimated cost of the project is not yet available, Sempra spokesman Art Larson said last night.

The cross-border line would tie into the Southwest Power Link, a major 500-kilovolt transmission line operated by San Diego Gas & Electric Co. that runs parallel to Interstate 8.

The proposed line would carry as much as 1,250 megawatts of electric power to be produced by wind turbines planned for the Sierra Juarez mountains near La Rumorosa, Mexico. At its maximum capacity, the renewable-energy site could provide electricity for 812,500 homes.

Sempra's chairman and chief executive, Don Felsinger, was asked about the status of the proposed wind-energy project Tuesday during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

“We have secured a good resource in terms of land and signed a contract” to supply wind-generated electricity to Southern California Edison, Felsinger said. But construction has not begun, partly because of inadequate transmission capacity.

“As we all are painfully aware, we just don't have transmission in this region to move renewables to market,” Felsinger said.

The proposal to build the transmission line has been expected since June, when Sempra disclosed plans to buy co-development rights for the Baja wind-energy site from San Diego's Cannon Power Corp.

Sempra Generation, a subsidiary that operates four natural-gas-fired power plants in the southwestern United States, filed the application Dec. 20 on behalf of Baja Wind, the venture developing the La Rumorosa project.

The application seeks a “presidential permit” from the U.S. Department of Energy, which would conduct the necessary environmental reviews.

The timing of Sempra's application seemed odd to some environmentalists and consumer activists who were focused on five public hearings being held this week on the proposed Sunrise Powerlink. The last hearing was held yesterday in Julian.

The California Public Utilities Commission scheduled the hearings to gather public comment on an environmental study of Sunrise, a 500-kilovolt transmission line proposed by Sempra subsidiary SDG&E at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion. That line, which could run through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, is intended to connect geothermal-and solar-power plants in the Imperial Valley with SDG&E's San Diego power grid.

Michael Shames of the Utility Consumers' Action Network, which has opposed Sunrise in proceedings before the PUC, said the timing of Sempra's application for the cross-border line came as no surprise.

“What's surprising is that it took so long for them,” he said.

Shames said he welcomed the cross-border power line, however.

“My position has been for a number of years that if you want to build a transmission line that is going to be useful, build it to La Rumarosa, rather than to the Imperial Valley,” he said.

Shames contended that Sempra's plans to connect the cross-border line to SDG&E's Southwestern line renew a simmering dispute over the Southwestern line's capacity – and whether the proposed Sunrise Powerlink is really necessary.

SDG&E spokeswoman Christy Heiser countered that Shames is mistaken, saying his arguments over Southwestern's carrying capacity are unsupported by anything in the record.

---

Bruce Bigelow: (619) 293-1314; bruce.bigelow@uniontrib.com