Parks Dept. Invites Public to Comment on Sunrise Powerlink Proposal

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 8, 2007 at 8:32 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The state parks department wants to hear what people who live in Southern California think about the controversial Sunrise Powerlink project. San Diego Gas and Electric wants to build a 150-mile trans

The state parks department wants to hear what people who live in Southern California think about the controversial Sunrise Powerlink project. San Diego Gas and Electric wants to build a 150-mile transmission line that would link energy sources in the Imperial Valley to San Diego County. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Tonight's meeting in Borrego Springs may be the only local hearing the California Parks and Recreation Commission holds on the Sunrise Powerlink proposal. SDG&E proposes to build the electric transmission line through part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Opponents say the line isn't needed and the transmission towers will spoil scenic views in the park.

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The California Parks and Recreation Commission makes decisions for the state parks and recreation department. The Parks department says they have control over whether the transmission line can be built in the park. The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide on whether the project can go ahead later this year. If the project is approved, the PUC says it has the ultimate decision on the route for the power line.

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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