Conservationists Oppose El Centro-to-San Diego Power Line Plan

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 9, 2007 at 12:40 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

San Diego Gas and Electric wants to build a 150-mile-long power line that would stretch from El Centro to San Diego. The state Public Utilities Commission is holding hearings to determine whether ther

San Diego Gas and Electric wants to build a 150-mile-long power line that would stretch from El Centro to San Diego. The state Public Utilities Commission is holding hearings to determine whether there's a need for the $1.3 billion project. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The hearings only include expert witnesses provided by SDG&E, other power agencies and groups against the proposal.

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SDG&E's Chief Operating Officer Michael Niggli says the proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line is necessary to provide a reliable supply of power for the region.

Niggli : The current system is simply inadequate to handle the growing energy demands of our customers. In the past five years, our customer demand has increased by over a 1,000 megawatts.

Opponents of the project question the need for the power line, saying conservation, wind and solar power can help meet future energy needs. Others say the power lines will harm the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

More than 30 witnesses are scheduled to be questioned in a court-like cross-examination setting the rest of this month. The state PUC expects to make its decision in January.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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