DesertBlog

Wishing You a Happy, Powerlink-Free New Year

The CPUC delivered a nice lump of coal to the stockings of California ratepayers last week, with its decision to approve the Sunrise Powerlink, no requirements attached. If allowed to stand, this decision means that customers of PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E will be footing the bill for this $1.9 billion boondoggle for decades. (DesertBlog was out of commission last week, which explains why we’re just getting around to covering this decision now.)

On a related topic, the CPUC was more lavish in its gifts to California’s utilities, giving them an $82 million bonus for their efforts to increase energy efficiency. Only problem is, those efforts, as reported by the utilities themselves, are likely overblown. Some watchdog groups, including the CPUC’s own Division of Ratepayer Advocates, think the utilities actually deserve fines for failing to reach their goals. But to paraphrase CPUC President Mike Peevey, “We have to get the utilities their bonuses by Christmas. We can’t waste time quibbling over whether the bonuses are deserved.” Mr. Peevey has a soft spot in his heart for the big utilities, which is likely explained by the fact that he used to be the President of Edison International and Southern California Edison.

(For more stomach-turning coverage of the money flowing every which way at the CPUC, and how this results in fat payments to the utilities, check this L.A. Times article. Suffice to say that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would feel right at home here.)

But back to the Sunrise Powerlink: After years of work by average citizens, activists and conservation groups, there was considerable grief over the CPUC’s decision. Still, UCAN’s Michael Shames was relatively sanguine in his comment to the San Diego Union-Tribune: ” ‘We expected this decision from Day One, and we’ll appeal,’ he said. ‘They ignored the facts on cost and reliability issues.’ ” UCAN and other groups opposed to the Powerlink are weighing their legal options.

While this decision is definitely a setback, it’s just Round One of a multi-round fight. As someone commented during the hearings last May, the politics are all on Sempra/SDG&E’s side (as shown by this decision), while the facts are on our side. The two Administrative Law Judges assigned to the case have done an excellent job of ensuring that all those facts made their way into the record. Commissioner Dian Grueneich’s alternate proposed decision (and her no vote on this decision), shows that there’s a legitimate basis to doubt SDG&E’s “assurances” that the line will carry renewable power. All of these facts will carry a lot of weight in a court room.

Some might feel that all their letter-writing and calling the Governor was for naught. However, though we couldn’t persuade either the Governor or the CPUC to weigh the facts — or even heed the agency’s own EIR — all of this effort was important in laying the groundwork for the upcoming legal challenges. The thousands of people who attended public hearings and the countless e-mails and phone calls from all over the country show that this is not a NIMBY effort, but one acting for the public good. That fact, too, can carry weight in a court room.

Speaking from my limited personal experience with legal cases involving dubious projects in park lands, I can say that it’s always a sad day when public officials ignore the facts in order to put corporate interests before the public interest. But the day when a judge overturns that misguided decision offers sweet vindication (second-best only to being able to personally slap the decision makers upside their shiny, bald-pated heads).

So be of good cheer, fellow activists. With enough time and legal pressure, we can turn this lump of coal into something shiny and beautiful: a Sunrise Powerlink-free backcountry (like McCain Valley, above) and a locally-based renewable energy future.

(And if you want to deliver your own holiday gift that will help to counter the CPUC’s “gift,” a good way to do that is with a donation to the Protect Our Communities Fund, managed by the San Diego Foundation. A donation to DPC wouldn’t hurt either!)