Economy

Sunrise Powerlink Project Gets Forest Service Approval

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published October 15, 2010 at 1:19 PM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The Record of Decision (ROD) approving the construction of San Diego Gas and Electric's Sunrise Powerlink transmission line project on the Cleveland National Forest has been upheld by Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore.

In a U.S. Forest Service news release, Moore said twelve appeals of the Cleveland National Forest Supervisor's ROD approving the project's Environmental Impact Statement were received by the Regional Forester.

Moore said all applicable laws, regulations and policies have been complied with and all public concerns are addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement.

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The project may be implemented 15 business days after Moore's decision letter dated October 14, the news release states. This is the final administrative determination of the Department of Agriculture.

Sunrise Powerlink was proposed by San Diego Gas and Electric as a new 500 kilovolt transmission line project.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the project on in December 2008. The Bureau of Land Management approved the project in January 2009.

SDG-and-E applied to the Forest Service for a Special Use Permit which allows the transmission line to cross about 49 miles of BLM land and 19 miles of National Forest land.

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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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