After months of speculation SDG&E has unveiled its proposed route for the controversial Sunrise Powerlink. The 130-mile electricity transmission line would travel from Imperial County through North San Diego County's backcountry. KPBS reporter Beth Ford Roth has more.
The proposed route would run through the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, past the communities of Ranchita and Warner Springs, and through Ramona. It would end in Rancho Penasquitos.
SDG&E says the line is necessary to maintain a reliable source of power for San Diego County in the future.
But David Hogan with the Center for Biological Diversity disputes there's a need, and says the Powerlink's route would damage pristine land.
Hogan: People who go to the San Diego backcountry to enjoy Dudley's Bakery or Julian Pies or Anza Borrego State Park may be shocked to see this giant ugly industrial power line running across some of these beautiful natural landscapes.
SDG&E says the next step is to do an engineering and environmental analysis of the proposed route, and file an environmental impact statement with state energy regulators by this summer. Beth Ford Roth, KPBS News.
