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 and the BLM have developed and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (completed on December 14, 2009) that will direct the preparation of a joint Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) referred to as an EIR/EIS for the SDG&E ECO Substation Project. The CPUC, as the lead agency under California law, and the BLM, as the federal lead agency, will prepare a Draft and Final EIR/EIS to comply with CEQA and NEPA. 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.

In addition to the proposed project, the CPUC and BLM have determined that the Energia Sierra Juarez Generator Tie- Line Project (ESJ Project) is so closely related to the proposed project as to be considered a “connected action” under NEPA as this project cannot proceed without the ECO Substation Project. One additional project, the Tule Wind 200 megawatt (MW) Project, as proposed by Iberdrola Renewables, Inc, is also an interrelated project as current plans would tie this project into the proposed Boulevard Substation rebuild component of the ECO Substation Project. These projects will be analyzed within the same environmental document and are discussed in more detail below.

Tule Wind 200 MW Project

The proposed Tule Wind 200 MW Project, consisting of approximately 200 wind turbines capable of generating up to 200 MW of electricity, would be located in the McCain Valley in the In-Ko-Pah Mountains in eastern San Diego County, California. In addition to wind turbines and associated generator step-up transformers, the Tule Wind 200 MW project would include the following project components:

	A 34.5 kV overhead and underground collector cable system linking the wind turbines to the project substation
	A 5-acre project substation including an on-site operations and maintenance (O&M) facility. The substation would step up electricity from 34.5 kV to 138 kV. Two meteorological towers will be constructed within the 5-acre substation site. For public safety, permanent fences would be erected around the substation, the meteorological towers, and the O&M facility and equipment storage area
	An overhead 138 -kV transmission line linking the project substation to an interconnect with the SDG&E Boulevard Substation. The project developer would construct and operate the portion of the transmission line from the project substation to the Boulevard Substation
	Newly constructed access roads and temporarily widened and improved existing roads.

ESJ Project

As proposed by, Energia Sierra Juarez, LLC, the proposed ESJ Project will have the capacity to import up to 1,250 MW of renewable energy generated in northern Baja California, Mexico to the existing SWPL Transmission Line in eastern San Diego County, California. The selected route would connect with the proposed ECO Substation and would be constructed on three to five 150-foot lattice towers or 170-foot steel monopoles, extending south from the point of interconnection for about 0.65 mile to the U.S.–Mexico international border. Only renewable energy would be transmitted via the gen-tie. The EIR/EIS will address the gen-tie line including any potential impacts to the United States associated with the wind turbines located in Mexico.

This project requires a Presidential Permit (PP-334) from the United States Department of Energy and a Major Use Permit from the County of San Diego. The County of San Diego will use the ECO Substation Project EIR/EIS to issue the Major Use Permit for its compliance with CEQA.

The Public Notice is available here.

The Notice of Preparation (NOP) is available (here). (official public review period: December 28, 2009 to February 10, 2010).

The Notice of Intent (NOI) is available (here). (official public review period: December 29, 2009 to January 28, 2010).
Note that BLM will accept public comments until February 15, 2010. Comments can be sent to either CPUC or BLM to the addresses listed in the NOP and NOI.

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:

Thomas Zale, BLM Project Manager
Bureau of Land Management, El Centro Field Office
1661 S. 4th Street
El Centro, CA 92243
Tel. (760) 337-4420