SAN DIEGO -- A judge has granted SDG&E access to various North County backcountry properties so it can prepare for the possible construction of a 500-kilovolt transmission line.

The judge made the ruling contingent on the utility covering homeowners financially if someone or something gets hurt.

Property owners told Superior Court Judge Rafael Arreola that SDG&E and other subcontractors have showed up at their homes unannounced and been turned away.

Arreola ruled that the utility has the right to go onto the properties to do routine surveying and testing to identify the route for the proposed transmission line as long as it gives homeowners "reasonable notice" of their visit.

An attorney for SDG&E, Larry Davis, said the company was willing to insure homeowners if they incurred damages or injuries on their property.

SDG&E has proposed the $1.3 billion line to link alternative power sources in Imperial County with San Diego County.

The utility says the line, called the Sunrise Powerlink, is needed by 2010 to insure a reliable supply of electricity for the region.

The preferred route would take the line through the heart of Anza- Borrego Desert State Park, through Grapevine Canyon near Ranchita to a substation to be built near Warner Springs or Santa Ysabel. The line will then head south and west through numerous communities including Ramona and Rancho Penasquitos.

The project and the route must still be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, which is expected to make a decision by the end of the year.