Borrego Springs Route Proposed For Controversial Sunrise Powerlink

BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. -- San Diego Gas and Electric Co. has drawn up a new route that would take its proposed controversial transmission line through Borrego Springs instead of through the center of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, it was reported Thursday.

Under the proposed alternative, the utility would agree to raze a small power line running through Anza-Borrego and return the land it occupies to the park, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

In an outlined plan SDG&E filed with the California Public Utilities Commission on Saturday, SDG&E "strongly encourages" the commission to continue studying an alternative that would take the 500-kilovolt Sunrise Powerlink a few miles north, through south Borrego Springs. The commission had recommended that the route be eliminated from consideration, the newspaper reported.

SDG&E officials said the route proposed to run through the heart of the park is still their preferred route but that the alternative, which would cross a smaller portion of Anza-Borrego and affect property owners, would benefit the park, the newspaper reported.

SDG&E spokesman Scott Crider said Wednesday that the Borrego Springs alternative would reduce the amount of parkland affected by the project. The preferred route would traverse 22 miles of the park, while the alternative would cross 12 miles of public land, according to the Union-Tribune.

By early next year, the utilities commission is expected to decide if the 150-mile, $1.3 billion Powerlink should be built. If so, it will also dictate where and how, the newspaper reported.