Economy

Sempra Wind Project Gets Mexican Permit

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published August 20, 2010 at 12:25 PM PDT

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

A proposed Sempra Energy wind farm project in Mexico near the U.S. Border has moved a step closer to reality. The wind farm would be built in Mexico, just south of Jacumba.

The project includes building a series of wind turbines throughout a stretch of northeast Baja.

Energy from the project would be sold for use in the United States.

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Scott Crider with Sempra Generation, a division of Sempra Energy, said Mexican officials have approved a permit for the Energía Sierra Juarez project.

"This is a great milestone for the project," said Crider. "But this is just one permit in the process and we still have a long ways to go."

Crider said other Mexican agencies still must approve the project.

"We do need some local permits in Mexico," said Crider. "We also are awaiting a decision from the Department of Energy that needs to approve the cross-border transmission line that would connect the project into the California power grid in addition to needing a permit from the County of San Diego."

Some environmental groups say the project is one of several proposed on both sides of the border that could alter the rural nature of the region.

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Crider said the Mexican permit requires Sempra to conduct studies and monitor how the project will impact wildlife and the environment.

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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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