SDG&E Allegedly Made False Statements Regarding Powerlink Project

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 4, 2008 at 9:05 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

San Diego Gas and Electric could be fined and face other penalties for allegedly making false statements to the state Public Utilities Commission. The charges are related to the proposed Sunrise Power

San Diego Gas and Electric could be fined and face other penalties for allegedly making false statements to the state Public Utilities Commission. The charges are related to the proposed Sunrise Powerlink project. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The utility is accused of saying a southern alternative route for the proposed project was not viable at a time when the utilities commission says SDG&E knew it was a suitable option.

SDG&E has two weeks to respond to the charges, which the commission says happened during meetings with commission staff last June.

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An SDG&E spokesman called the charges a misunderstanding.

Michael Shames with the Utility Consumers Action Network opposes the project.

He says the alleged charges could be a factor in the CPUC's future decision on Sunrise.

Shames: This whole application is going to be based largely on whether the commissioners believe SDG&E or believe the opponents. And so actually I think this is going to be more important than a teapot-sized tempest.

SDG&E wants to build a high voltage power line across San Diego County including part of the Anza-Borrego State Desert Park.

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The commission is expected to make a decision on the Powerlink application by the end of the year.

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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