Three witnesses were cross-examined today. The morning started with the Mussey Grade Alliance cross examination of SDG&E fire-expert Mortier. Most of his testimony was struck as being non-responsive to the direct testimony of Mussey Grade. He confirmed the assertions by Mussey Grade that the construction of Sunrise would increase the chance of backcountry fires -- include disasterous ones such as the Cedar fire.

He was followed by a high priced ($95 an hour) consultant hired by SDG&E to convince the PUC that Sunrise was essential for spurring renewable energy development in the Imperial Valley. Even before he'd gotten on the stand, his testimony had been undermined by prior SDG&E witnesses who had admitted that most of the renewable power available to SDG&E was wind power located in East San Diego County and Mexico as well as San Diego County bio-mass. No geothermal at all is in the offing any time soon. He admitted that he didn't do any studies to support his conclusions. And he didn't know that SDG&E had already established that there was over 2400MW of export capacity that would be available to transfer renewable power out of the Valley, even if Sunrise were not built.

Finally, SDG&E put a witness on the stand to discuss renewable contracts that SDG&E had entered into or was negotiating. He added to the hearing intrigue by confirming the testimony of Yari that SDG&E is considering a substation at or near Jacumba to bring in wind from East San Diego County. Such a substation may well serve as an alternate to Sunrise and could be the anchor of a southern route that bypasses the Anza-Borrego desert. With each day, it seems as though the viability of Sunrise diminishes and UCAN's alternatives -- like a line parallel to SWPL or other transmission upgrades to the north -- could become the focal point of the Commission's deliberations.

At the end of the day, SDG&E's economics witness took the stand. Jan Strack will be on the stand for the next day or two, as the economic feasibility of SWPL hinges on his cross-examination. Stay tuned.

-Michael

Listen to Michael Shames discuss UCAN's opposition to Sunrise.

Watch cross-examination from the Sunrise Hearings.