Sunrise Powerlink Premature, May Not Be Necessary at All
New Peaker Plants Could Replace High-Power Line
Editor:
The proposed Sunrise Powerlink is premature at best and may not be needed at all.
My conclusions: Why do we need a 500-kilovolt line that begins in Imperial Valley unless the 10,000-megawatts of energy in Arizona and Mexico are going to utilize Sunrise?
Palo Verde, Ariz., has a mix of nuclear, gas and coal available, and if moving that energy is the case, then we need to know that that is a reason for the line.
Otherwise Imperial Valley has nothing to offer us for resources at this point in time.
Geothermal in the Salton Sea does not have the potential for requiring a 500-KV link.
In my conversations with CalEnergy, they assured me that they have just about reached their limit with available resources.
Future development would require placing sites in the Salton Sea requiring draining the acreage needed for new geothermal plants.
Mexico may have some geothermal potential but that doesn’t justify building a power line without an ironclad contract with Mexico.
The route of the power line will predetermine the sites for renewable generation.
Developers are going to site projects as close to the power link as they can, thereby avoiding costly transmission feed lines.
Until we know where those renewable resources are going to be it is premature to cast those sites in stone.
The cost of the power line at $1.4 billion is about the same as building three new natural gas-fired power plants generating an equivalent amount of energy.
Those plants could be built in our area coming on line, as needed.
Sempra Energy just built one in Escondido requiring two years for the permits and the construction window. That is just one option, not a recommendation.
In basin generation and transmission is capable of servicing our area with 6,000 MW of power when our current peak demand is 4,500 MW.
The 550-MW plant in Mexico is tied into our grid and needs to be counted as it is controlled by the independent system operator, or ISO.
The two existing lines are capable of supplying more than the 2,000 MW.
AMI can have a significant impact on demand if it’s done right. Pricing for time-of-use will make the difference to a customer.
Customers who give control to the utility should receive favorable rates. They will respond if the price is right and at the same time are educated about use
Renewable farms are certainly a viable option but should be located close to the demand not 150 miles away.
Rooftop solar will help but more than the energy they produce the awareness of consumption will have an impact.
Residential energy efficiency needs a big bump start.
Private enterprise can have significant impact on homes that make changes saving as much as 40 percent of their current energy consumption.
Peaker plants can be a temporary solution. They can be sold and moved as we develop energy efficiency and renewables in the near future.
We need to be responsible for generating our own electricity in our own area but the Sunrise Power Link leaves that up to others. The above options provide the opportunity to be responsible for our own generation, save our protected desert, provide local jobs and will help clean up our environment for future generations.
Dan Perkins
Energy Smart Homes
San Diego
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Proposition 86 Would Save Lives, Discourage Smoking Among the Young
Editor:
Thank you for covering Proposition 86 in Katie Weeks’ extensive article Aug. 21.
The American Lung Association helped to put this initiative on the ballot because it will save lives.
The price increase alone will discourage kids from smoking and encourage smokers to quit or cut back. This explains why Big Tobacco is bankrolling the opposition.
When Big Tobacco loses, California wins. A victory for Proposition 86 will mean more than a 50 percent increase in resources for tobacco prevention, and a tripling of funding for research into cancer and other diseases.
We hope voters will ask themselves: Whom do they trust to do the right thing for California? Big Tobacco? Or the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association?
We are confident that voters will pass Proposition 86 in November.
Janie Davis
American Lung Association of California
San Diego
