(May 18, 2007) Dominic DiMare, vice president of government relations for the California Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line before a United States Department of Energy hearing in San Diego yesterday.
“The Sunrise Powerlink transmission line would dramatically improve the reliability of the state’s electric transmission grid by providing an ‘energy superhighway’ that would reduce congestion on existing lines and help protect against future transmission outages that can lead to blackouts,” said DiMare at a press conference here before the DOE hearing, called to examine the region’s transmission capabilities and needs. “San Diego’s electric transmission system has only two links to the state’s energy grid. At peak times when demand is high, these two connections near ‘energy gridlock’ - just like a freeway at rush hour. Securing a reliable and affordable energy supply is crucial to California businesses and the state’s continued economic growth.”
In February, Amisha Patel, CalChamber policy advocate on energy and climate change, testified in support of the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line before the California State Park and Recreation Commission.
In August 2006, CalChamber President and CEO Allan Zaremberg also spoke in support of the Sunrise Powerlink project before the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Board of Governors, which subsequently approved the project’s continuation.
The Sunrise Powerlink is a new electric transmission line proposed by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to be constructed between the Imperial Valley and San Diego. This 120-mile line will carry 500,000 volts of electricity - capable of serving the electricity need of over 650,000 customers - and will ensure a safe and reliable energy supply for the state’s second largest city.
Forecasts show that by the year 2010, the San Diego region will demand more power than can be generated locally or imported over existing transmission lines. Action needs to be taken today to ensure that the lights will stay on tomorrow. Until recently, San Diego has not seen any new power plants built in San Diego for nearly 50 years, and the last new transmission line like the Sunrise Powerlink was constructed in 1983. Since that time, the demand for energy has doubled — straining existing infrastructure to the limit.
In addition to providing greater reliability, the Sunrise Powerlink will also create greater access to clean energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind and geothermal. The Sunrise Powerlink is a crucial transmission line to economically deliver renewable power from remote areas where it is generated to the state’s population centers. Also, with the signing of AB 32 last year and the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, projects such as this have become even more necessary for California. The 1000 megawatts of renewable energy Sunrise Powerlink will bring to our grid eliminates up to 7 million tons of greenhouse gas that would be emitted if this needed energy were generated by fossil fuel.
The Sunrise Powerlink is strongly supported by the Associated Business and Labor for Energy (ABLE) coalition, a CalChamber-supported statewide coalition of business and labor organizations dedicated to ensuring California has a reliable energy supply for decades to come.
Currently, San Diego has only two connections to the state’s energy grid. The Sunrise Powerlink would add a much needed third link and expand SDG&E’s capability to import more power to meet the region’s growing demand for electricity, while helping relieve current transmission bottlenecks on California’s energy grid which can result in higher energy costs.
The Sunrise Powerlink will provide access to lower-cost electricity generated outside of the region and will lessen the reliance on local, aging power plants that are less efficient and more expensive to operate.
For more information on supporting the Sunrise Powerlink and the ABLE coalition please visit www.able-energy.com.
Staff Contact: Dominic Dimare