SDGE Gets Final Approval for the Sunrise Powerlink

By Mario Conde

After years of work by Imperial County and other agencies, the USDA Forest Service has authorized the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Sunrise Powerlink on the Cleveland National Forest.

The Cleveland National Forest is approving construction and operation of the 1,000-megawatt line on 19 miles of forest land. The project is expected to bring $1.9 Billion to Southern California. The approval of this project was lauded and celebrated by the County Board of Supervisors Tuesday since this will put Imperial County as the renewable energy capital of the United States.

“This is a great day for Imperial County and San Diego because this will create hundreds of jobs.” Said Supervisor Gary Wyatt stating that those that oppose this project will benefit from it as well. Wyatt said that projects on the Sunrise Powerlink will start soon and will benefit the valley.

Supervisor Wally Leimgruber said that this was a historic day for the County and highlighted the aggressive approach the County of Imperial had in this project. “We had a lengthy EIR since this met a lot of demands but we finally come to this approval that will be beneficial for this area.” He said.

With the implementation of this project the County believes that the Imperial County can provide the nation with thousands of Mega Watts of clean, green renewable energy. The Board of Supervisors believes that Imperial County is rich in geothermal resources and our potential for solar generated electricity is endless.

The board believes that the Sunrise Powerlink will provide the adequate transmission to export this clean renewable energy and this project is the first step in providing the necessary electric infrastructure to replace fossil fuel generation with renewable energy that has no harmful greenhouse emissions.

In other news, the Board of Supervisors approved to split the County Planning & Economic Development Departments due to the retirement of Jurg Heuberger who announced its retirement for this August. The board approved to have the Economic Development Department to run by the County Executive Officer until the position is filled in October.