SUNRISE IN A NUTSHELL

 The Sunrise Powerlink serves as a cautionary tale of greenwashing, short-sightedness and regulatory capture that threatens this state's energy policy. "Sunrise" is a 150-mile transmission line planned to link Imperial Valley with metropolitan San Diego. San Diego Gas & Electric seeks to build this $1.9 billion transmission line. In November 2008, the state Public Utilities Commission voted, over the objections of the assigned Commissioner, two administrative law judges and Commission staff, to approve the project. If built, SDG&E stands to gain $1.4 billion in guaranteed profit.

The controversy surrounding Sunrise is that it is a very uneconomic proposition. Spending approximately $2 billion for a powerline is difficult to justify given that it doesn't produce any power. It only leads to power generators. And if those generators aren't offering very cheap power, the investment justifications crumble.

SDG&E sought to blunt the economic arguments by pitching Sunrise as a "green" investment as it would stimulate renewable power development. This was, in fact, the basis for the regulatory approval. Inexplicably, regulators did not require that the line be used to import renewable power. Because of the financial crisis, dropping prices in photovoltaics, and the collapse of the wind industry, it is unlikely that the renewable power in the Imperial Valley will materialize in the timeline envisioned by SDG&E.

For those foresighted policymakers who view distributed generation as holding greater promise than propping up the old centralized power-transmission paradigm, Sunrise is ultimately be viewed as a $2 billion bridge to archaism. For all of California, it will be seen as a missed opportunity. 

SDG&E is banking on this half-a-billion dollar project to boost its income and help its parent company Sempra sell power from its Baja power plant. UCAN has joined with other local groups to expose the self-dealing and self-deluding arguments fashioned by SDG&E. Listen to Michael Shames explain UCAN's opposition to Sunrise in this UCAN.org podcast.

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