April 18, 2008

PLEASE ATTEND THE MOST IMPORTANT
PUBLIC HEARING YET ON THE SUNRISE POWERLINK
But if you can’t attend, see the bottom of the page.
Monday, May 12, is our last, best chance to express opposition to the Sunrise Powerlink, and to call for true green energy options for Southern California.

	The wide open spaces of Warner Valley. Can you imagine gigantic power lines here? SDG&E can. Photo by Larry Hogue

DATE:
Monday, May 12

TIMES:
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

PLACE:
Borrego Springs Resort,
DeAnza Room
1112 Tilting T Drive
Borrego Springs, CA
760-767-5700 (resort phone)

Why is this hearing so important?
This is the first hearing where more than one Public Utilities Commissioner will be present. It is the first and only chance for these new commissioners to hear from the public up close and in person. The fact that Administrative Law Judge Steven Weissman scheduled this hearing is an encouraging sign that the Commission is taking public input seriously. Even more than in February, we need to have a massive turnout of people speaking both passionately and reasonably against the myriad harms the Sunrise Powerlink will do to our region, AND in favor of true green energy alternatives.

Brand New to the Powerlink? Try these sites and articles for more info:

• Sunrise Powerlink: A Battle for California’s Energy Future by Lawrence Hogue
• San Diego Smart Energy Solutions Campaign: A good overview of what’s wrong with the Powerlink and why San Diego needs true green energy alternatives. Links to the full “San Diego Smart Energy 2020” report.
• DPC’s previous Sunrise Powerlink page with lots of info on earlier phases of the Sunrise Powerlink approval process
• Energy & Nature blog: Kelly Fuller’s running commentary on events dealing with Sunrise for the past two years.
• Anza-Borrego Foundation Hot Topics: The Anza-Borrego Foundation has its own protest letter that you can download here. Also, a great photo showing the proposed route of the Powerlink through Tamarisk Grove campground and Yaqui Well, one of the prime birding spots in the U.S.
• County of San Diego letter criticizing the Sunrise Powerlink This letter asks why the Sunrise Powerlink is still being considered at all.
• Draft EIR Executive Summary: A summary of the conclusions of the Environmental Impact Report, and the finding that two different “in-basin generation” alternatives are environmentally superior to any version of the Sunrise Powerlink project.
• Map of the Proposed Sunrise Powerlink Route (this map doesn’t show the southern alternative, which would impact rural communities and desert and mountain wilderness – like Hauser Wilderness, shown below – in southern San Diego County.

Wilderness values of Hauser Wilderness would be impacted by the southern routing of the Powerlink project. Photo by Larry Hogue

Volunteer to Help Turn Out the Crowd to the Hearing!
The San Diego Smart Energy Solutions Campaign is holding two organizing meetings for volunteers to help mobilize attendance at the CPUC hearing: May 5 in Borrego Springs, and May 8 in Lakeside, both at 7 p.m. For more info, contact Micah Mitrosky (mmitrosky AT sierraclubsandiego.org) or 619-299-1797.

Hearing Tips

• Pick one of the start times; you don’t need to attend both, since these are technically two separate hearings.
• Arrive early – but if you can’t arrive early, come anyway.
• Sign in to speak as soon as you arrive, whether you want to speak or just leave a written comment.
• The best way to leave a written comment: wait until called on to speak, then state your name and say that you’d like to turn in a comment. You’ll be asked to hand it to the clerk.
• If you REALLY don’t want to speak at all, just turn in your written comment at the sign-in table.
• Come prepared: CPUC hearings don’t offer “comment cards” or other ways to write a comment at the meeting, so please arrive with comment in hand. Feel free to use these talking points, but try to personalize them. Don’t use the form letter mentioned below – that’s for folks who can’t make the hearing.
• Your presence in itself will help, even if you don’t want to speak or leave a comment. Look for volunteers handing out anti-Sunrise Powerlink stickers, badges, etc., to identify yourself as an opponent of the Powerlink.

If You ABSOLUTELY Cannot Attend the Hearing
Please send us a written comment and we’ll turn it in for you. Click here for talking points and here for a pre-written letter (personalize it as you see fit). Address your comments to: the Commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission and Administrative Law Judge Steven Weissman.

When you’re finished please mail or e-mail your comments to us at:
Desert Protective Council
P.O. Box 3635
San Diego, CA 92163-1635
Email: stopsunrise AT gmail DOT com