San Diego Gas & Electric East County Substation Project

Background

SDG&E filed an application for a Permit to Construct the ECO Substation Project with the CPUC and an application for a Right-of-Way (ROW) Grant from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  The Proposed Project will cross approximately 1.5 miles of land managed by BLM.  The CPUC will evaluate the environmental impacts of the Proposed Project in accordance with CEQA and the BLM will evaluate the Proposed Project in accordance with NEPA.

The ECO Substation Project, as proposed by SDG&E, includes the following major components:

	Construction of a 500/230/138 kilovolt (kV) substation in Eastern San Diego County
	Construction of the Southwest Power link (SWPL) loop-in, a short loop-in of the existing SWPL transmission line to the proposed ECO Substation
	Construction of a138 kV transmission line, approximately 13.3 miles in length, running between the proposed ECO Substation and the rebuilt Boulevard Substation
	Rebuild of the existing Boulevard Substation
	Rebuild of the White Star Communication Facility.

The Proposed Project would provide an interconnection hub for renewable generation along SDG&E’s existing SWPL 500 kV transmission line. In addition to accommodating the region’s planned renewable generation, the project would also provide a second source for the southeastern 138 kV transmission system that avoids the vulnerability of common structure outages, which would increase the reliability of electrical service for Boulevard, Jacumba, and surrounding communities. The Proposed Project would provide interconnection capability at three voltage levels, which would provide renewable generators the option to connect at a voltage level that is appropriately sized for their project.

The primary component of the Proposed Project, the ECO Substation, is situated approximately 0.5 mile north of the United States (U.S.)­Mexico border and 0.5 mile west of the Imperial County border.  The Project Location Map depicts the location of the project components.

Application and Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA)

The PEA was submitted August 10, 2009 and is available here.

Other Documents Available

The First PEA deficiency letter was sent by the CPUC on September 9, 2009 and can be viewed here.

Application deemed complete on October 2, 2009. Letter can be viewed here.

The CPUC is currently seeking further information from area developers (based on developer information provided by SDG&E) to assess whether such information should be treated as privileged.

 

Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Draft EIR/EIS

The Draft EIR/EIS will be published here, when available.

 

Final EIR/EIS

The Final EIR/EIS will be published here, when available.

Commission Decision

The Commission’s decision will be posted here when available.

Construction Progress and Mitigation Monitoring

Reports issued by the CPUC, reports on construction progress, and reports issued as part of the Mitigation Monitoring Program will be published here, when available.

For Additional Information

The CPUC, through its Environmental Review Team, is conducting an environmental review of this project. To request additional information or to be added to the mailing list, please contact us by email, fax, or phone as follows:

Project email: ecosub@dudek.com
Project fax and voicemail: (800) 371-8854

The CPUC's Project Manager is:

Iain Fisher, CPUC Project Manager
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco CA 94102

Tel. (415) 355-5580

Fax (415) 703-2200

The BLM Project Manager is:

Lynnette Elser, BLM Project Manager
Planning & Environmental Coordinator
California Desert District Office
(951) 697-5233