Los Gatos is the eleventh
largest city in Santa Clara County with an estimated
population of 28,950 in 1996. Santa Clara County is the
most populated county in the San Francisco Bay Area and
the third largest in California with an estimated
population of 1,612,300 in 1996. The California
Department of Finance projects that Santa Clara County
would have a population of 1,703,000 in the year 2000.
The projected annual growth rate is 1.39 percent,
up slightly from the 1.30 percent growth rate the
county experienced from 1990 to 1996 (PG&E, 1997a).
The project is not a land use that would directly
increase population within the community, such as housing
units. The project is designed to accommodate PG&E's
projected growth in the South DeAnza and West San Jose
area of Santa Clara County by providing additional
electrical power to a system where the existing
electrical capacity cannot meet projected needs,
according to PG&E’s PEA. Based on PG&E data
from 1990 - 1996, much of that demand was a result of
increased usage of electric power rather than increased
number of residential or commercial customers (in this
period residential, commercial and agricultural customers
decreased by 631, 598 and 14, respectively). Industrial
customers have increased in the area by 522 in the period
(PG&E, 1997b). PG&E operates under State mandates
as an electric distribution utility and the project of
itself would not induce population growth into this
existing urbanized area. The Metcalf-Monta Vista power
transmission lines already are present in the area.
Growth in the area is in response to regional and local
economic, demographic and general plan policy forces
rather than transmission capacity. No new public or
private projects are anticipated to be directly initiated
as a result of construction and operation of the
substation. Therefore, no impact would occur because the
project would not exceed population projections or induce
substantial growth in an area.
See section II.a, above. No
impact.
No housing units are located
on the project site. No housing units would have to be
moved in off site areas for the project. Therefore, the
project would have no impact on existing houses.
