Towers of Terror Troubled Turning of the Tide

For members of Hope for the Hills, opponents of Southern California Edison's Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, the name of their organization appeared to be edging closer to fulfillment when the California Public Utilities Commission decided to order Edison to submit a new report concerning the existing route and alternatives earlier this year, the direct result of an impressive lobbying effort by Hope for the Hills and the City of Chino Hills.

After an initial statement by Edison identified alternatives, including a city-proposed underground line using less power and on a different circuitry arrangement, the CPUC then ordered the utility to return with more details on the costs of the fifteen alternatives it presented on 10 January.

In last Saturday's Chino Hills Champion, an article by Marianne Napoles opened with his sobering statement:  "Chino Hills hasn't exactly abandoned its support of the Edison power lines through the Chino Hills State Park, but the option is becoming less likely with each passing day.  Napoles reported that Edison's latest 74-page report identified that the cost of the route favored by the city would run millions of dollars higher than the rough figure of $550-950 million included in the earlier report, this according to a statement by Council member Ed Graham.

The latest Hope for the Hills banner concerning the controversial Edison renewable power transmission line project north of Carbon Canyon.  This banner is along Carbon Canyon Road at the summit of the S-curve near Carriage Hills.

Graham was further quoted as saying that the reason for the additional estimate is that the January report only looked at the costs associated with the portion of the line through Chino Hills, not with connecting it with the other elements of the section (the 8th in the massive project running from Tehachapi in Kern County to points east from Chino Hills and Chino.)  Summing up, Graham stated: "The City still prefers the route through the State Park, but it looks highly unlikely based upon the increased costs.  It's unfortunate because for me, it's the best choice by far."

As for another alternative posited by the city that would use 400kV (rather than the 500kV now included in the project) in a single circuit design running underground either along Edison's right-of-way, where the massive 200ft towers now stand, or under city streets, principally Eucalyptus Avenue, the Champion article did not specify amended cost figures.  The article did, however, state the Edison argued that the proposal was not technically feasible, because of insufficient amperage, the problem of dealing with line failures at cables, including their splice and termination points, and the considerable physical and construction effects within the city with underground construction.  As the report stated, the underground alternatives pose "unacceptable risks . . . to the transmission system."

There is still the question of mediation, which along with the required new reports, was mandated by the CPUC's administrative law judge last month and this meeting has occurred this week, though Graham's statement on this is telling in terms of its vagaries: "It will be a back and forth situation to find common ground."

While Hope for the Hills has placed banners (including one that proclaims "Save Our Children," without specifying whose and why) and utilized other forms of expression for its idea that "it is not too late," Napoles' opening paragraph of her article certaily indicates that the options for the group and the City of Chino Hills are becoming more restricted as this process grinds on. 

Indeed, it seems to be the case that the delaying of the project by the CPUC was a complicit acknowledgement of the successful political pressure applied by Hope for the Hills and the City, but that pragmatism will likely dictate that the project will continue, albeit slightly modified.  Along these lines (!), the outcome of the CPUC-mandated mediation between Edison and the City will be interesting to follow