Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the proposed construction of The Nevada Hydro Company Inc.'s (TNHC) Talega-Escondido/Valley-Serrano (TE/VS) 500 kV Interconnect Project. This website provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review process. The official Proceedings are available at http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/published/proceedings/A1007001.htm.

Background

On July 6, 2010, TNHC filed an application (A.10-07-001) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the CPUC to construct the TE/VS 500 kV Interconnect Project. The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency for the TE/VS transmission line project. The Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was issued on March 14, 2011.

TNHC has filed an application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the CPUC to construct the TE/VS 500 kV Interconnect Project. The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency for the TE/VS transmission line project.

The TE/VS 500 kV transmission line, as proposed by TNHC, would be a 500 kV alternating current regional interconnection transmission line with a nominal design capacity of 1,000 MW. The transmission line would provide a transmission interconnection from the proposed Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage (LEAPS) hydroelectric energy storage facility to the transmission systems of Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), and it would interconnect the SCE and SDG&E systems.

The transmission line would be approximately 32 miles long and would extend from the proposed LEAPS facility near the City of Lake Elsinore, southward to SDG&E's existing 230 kV Talega-Escondido transmission line in San Diego County, and northward to SCE's existing 500 kV Valley-Serrano transmission line in Riverside County. The interconnection with SDG&E would be between SDG&E's existing Talega and Escondido substations at a new substation adjacent to Camp Pendleton. The interconnection with SCE's network would be at a point between SCE's Valley and Serrano Substations, at a new switchyard in the vicinity of Lee Lake. In addition to the improvements described above, TNHC's TE/VS Interconnect Project would require numerous upgrades to the SDG&E and SCE systems.

Application and Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA)

In October of 2007, an application (A.07-10-005; A.09-02-12) and PEA for the TE/VS project were filed with the CPUC. However, on April 16, 2009, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a decision dismissing the application without prejudice as a result of several deficiencies in the PEA:

Decision of ALJ Karen V. Clopton
Attachment 1 (26.4MB)
Attachment 2
Attachment 3
Attachment 4
Attachment 5

Subsequently, a new application and PEA were filed on July 6, 2010. This application and PEA were deemed complete by the CPUC on August 5, 2010. The CPUC acknowledged this with a letter to TNHC. On February 25, 2011, TNHC filed a revised Chapter 3 to replace the Chapter 3 submitted in the July 2010 PEA. This revised chapter and associated figures supersedes the earlier version of Chapter 3.

On April 3, 2012, ALJ Minkin issued a Proposed Decision to Dismiss the July 2010 application (A.10-07-001). On May 24, 2012, the Commission voted to dismiss Application 10-07-001. The decision to dismiss was without prejudice, meaning that the applicant may submit a new application for the proposed project, subject to meeting a series of conditions laid out in the decision to dismiss.

Public Scoping Meetings

The CPUC held two public meetings, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 in Lake Elsinore, and on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 in Murrieta. These meetings gave the public and interested parties an opportunity to learn more about the proposed TE/VS Project and provided an opportunity for them to comment on the scope of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that is being prepared. Copies of the presentation and maps that were shown at the scoping meetings can be downloaded here:

Scoping Meeting Presentation
Map - Regional Project Location (5.0MB)
Map - Northern Part of Proposed Project
Map - Southern Part of Proposed Project
Map - Lake Elsinore with LEAPS
Map - Lake Elsinore 115 kV Alignment
Mapbook for 500 kV Alignment (6.8MB). Index map
Mapbook for 115 kV Alignment (2.8MB). Index map

Comments made at these meetings or submitted subsequently will be considered by the CPUC in defining the scope of the EIR. The comment period will extend to April 29, 2011.

CPUC Data Requests on the TE/VS Project

• Data Request No. 1 to TNHC (2/28/12)

For Additional Information

To request additional information regarding this project, please contact the following: