A Ramble Through the Chino Hills North of Carbon Canyon

A nice shaded section of the route on this afternoon's trek.  Click on any photo to see them in enlarged views in separate windows.

This being a few days into spring and a beautiful one, a jaunt into the Chino Hills about 1 1/2 miles or so north of Carbon Canyon seemed like a great idea and it was a nice ramble along access roads parallelling the TRTP towers recently installed along a west-to-east corridor.

Looking south towards Carbon Canyon, with a bit of the graded Hillcrest housing project just left of center.

This was a walk that was taken along the same route some months ago, but with a significant difference.

One of the behemoth 198-foot TRTP towers striding across the hills from west to east.

The massive 198-foot towers did not yet have the several strands of wire strung from one to the next, but now they, and the multicolored balls that alert aircraft of their presence, are now a very conspicuous presence.  Some of the fine views obtained along the way are now compromised by having the wires in the line of sight.

A spray of purple wildflowers along the route.

Still, depending on where you are on the trek, the towers and wires may be on one side or the other, so there are still plenty of excellent vantage points looking in all directions.

Sunflowers also sprouting along the trail's edge.

For example, a glance to the north or the west can take in Tres Hermanos Ranch, Tonner Canyon, and the Boy Scouts of America camp, recently purchased by the City of Industry.

Looking towards the southeast and to Carbon Canyon and beyond.

Beyond are the towering peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, the San Jose Hills from Pomona and San Dimas to Walnut and West Covina and the Puente Hills from Rowland Heights over towards Whittier.

This view looks southwest towards Brea and Orange County.

To the south and the east are more of the Chino Hills, large areas bordering Carbon Canyon from the summit in Chino Hills out toward Olinda Village in Brea.

To the northwest and Diamond Bar, the Puente Hills and the San Gabriel Valley.

In the distance are the Santa Ana Mountains and further out can be seen the San Joaquin Hills near Irvine and Newport Beach and, on clearer days than this, the Pacific Ocean.

Looking out to Tres Hermanos Ranch in Tonner Canyon and the San Gabriel range in the distance.

A clear view can be seen from points along the hike of the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious community in Lion's Canyon just above Carbon Canyon to the south of the trail, while to the north and west are camp sites, shooting ranges and other facilities from the Boy Scouts reservation.

Another view to the south and towards Carbon Canyon.

Given that some of these latter facilities are not in Tonner Canyon but are in adjacent canyons and locations, it may be that, although Industry has purchased more of the Scouts property, some of the sites may still be used by the scouting organization.

It is said that Industry is looking to convert much of Tonner Canyon to water storage for city needs, but how much of an impact that could have on other uses of the reservation is not known.

A lengthy section of the winding trail is captured here.

As to the still-abundant swaths of oak and walnut woodland habitat, it is nice to see some amount of greenery, even though this winter has brought only a fraction (about 5 inches) of the deluges predicted because of the El Niño storm system.

It looks like there is a chance for some showers from Tuesday to Thursday in the coming week, but how much greener our hills will get is certainly not clear.

Just one of many old, spreading and majestic oaks in our local hills.

Of course, with the Hillcrest housing development of 76 units in process just north of Carbon Canyon east of Sleepy Hollow and with the specter of other projects looking including the Stonecrest property of 28 approved units near the summit in the Chino Hills portion, the pending hearings for the 107-unit Hidden Oaks south of the Canyon, and the appeal of the 162-unit Madrona project north of the canyon between Sleepy Hollow and Olinda Village, the long-term prognosis for the area is still very much in dispute.

An outstanding example of a grove of oaks along the trail.

For the time being, we should enjoy the beauty of what remains in Carbon Canyon while we still have what is still here.

A Ramble in the Hills Above Carbon Canyon: Black Friday Edition

One the many trails and access roads along the route of today's trek--this one close to Olinda Village.

While eager shoppers swarmed stores this morning, this blogger and a longtime Carbon Canyon resident swarmed the hills above Carbon Canyon enjoying the gorgeous weather, staggering views, and natural beauty found in this remarkable, but threatened, oasis amid the urban sprawl.

A glance towards Orange County, where shoppers were thronging malls and stores in search of great bargains.  Others, meantime, were in search of the exact opposite.

The three-plus hour walk was in the regions north of the canyon from Brea to Chino Hills and included a concluding climb up to see the hot springs that, for decades, fed the historic La Vida Mineral Springs resort.

Looking northeast towards the San Gabriel Mountains and the triple peaks of San Antonio (Baldy), Ontario and Cucamonga on a gorgeous, clear day.

Beginning from Olinda Village at about 9:15, the scramble ascended the top of the hills at the northeast of that community and past the water tanks that service that area.

A beautiful and quite old oak spreading its limbs for ample shade along the route.

Portions of the hike took in areas that have been slated for the Madrona development, 162 houses proposed on 367 acres, but which have been granted a reprieve, thanks to a recent Orange County Superior Court ruling that overturned the City of Brea's approval of the project.

This action shot captured a doe scampering across a road in the Firestone Boy Scouts Reservation.

More than likely, the property owner, the State of Idaho, as conservator of the failed Old Standard Life Insurance Company, a Spokane, Washington firm that took possession of the land after a 2009 bankruptcy involving the Shopoff Group, will appeal the case to the state appellate court.

The aforementioned deer and her friend heading up the slope for foraging away from strange, prying eyes.

Heading north and east from there, the walk skirted the western edge of the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope property, which is well-fenced and signed, and then descended down into a portion of the Firestone Boy Scouts Reservation at the lower end of Tonner Canyon.

One of many excellent views of Tres Hermanos Ranch in Tonner Canyon, which has been the site of much speculation regarding its future.

A brief bypass through a couple of campgrounds, including a shooting range, also led to the easement and access road for the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP).

A view south towards the widespread hinterlands of Lion's Canyon.

Segments of this project lead eastward from Diamond Bar through Chino Hills to points east.  The 200-foot towers that span the hills then terminate to the portal leading the route underground just beyond Oak Tree Downs near Eucalyptus Avenue.

 A remarkable natural feature found on the jaunt was this oak tree growing out of an outcropping of sandstone along a ridge.

This portion of the project was the subject of great controversy and a stunning reversal by the California Public Utilities Commission, which ordered the 500 KV lines placed below ground--the first such system attempted in the United States.

It's hard to comprehend the massiveness of these 200-foot tall towers installed for the TRTP project unless you have a view like this.

The route then proceeded down into Oak Tree Downs and from there included the additional scramble up to the source of La Vida's hot springs.

Eyed by this blogger's fellow traveler, this monkey flower doesn't normally (whatever that means these days) bloom until the Spring. 

At this location, not far from Carbon Canyon Road, a chain-link enclosure with razor wire on it was constructed fairly recently around the well and pipe that still emits a decent flow of hot water from the springs--though the door is open to the enclosure.

Here are the last two above-ground 200' TRTP towers before the segment moves to an underground route at a 12-acre transfer station being carved into a hill near the western end of Eucalyptus Avenue in Chino Hills.

A few feet away, another pipe emerges from the ground and a smaller, cooler flow emanates from there.  The water then descends the steep gully down to where the remains of the old La Vida tanks sit at the base of the hill.

Another example of an early flowering plant, this California Fuchsia would, like the Monkey Flower shown above, not usally be in flower at this time of the year.

It is certainly strange to see water emerging from the springs and then flow down hill.  On the ascent and descent, the gurgling of water through the narrow defile is especially odd, given the horrific drought our region has experienced for several years.

A beautification project underway at the historic La Vida Mineral Springs property in Brea, where a highly-invasive stand of tamarisk plants provides useful cover for the illegal dumping of trash.

Unfortunately, trash and debris are piled near the pipes at the springs, indications of what may have been a homeless encampment or perhaps some "farming" activity.  At the bottom, near the path that leads from the state highway to the tanks, people have taken advantange of the easy access to dump all kinds of trash near a stand of highly-invasive tamarisk plants.

The source of the hot mineral water that fed, from the 1910s to the 1980s, the La Vida Mineral Springs resort.

The property owner, who lives in Japan and has local representatives, is either unaware of or is uninterested in what has been going on, though it has been stated to this blogger that a local Japanese-language newspaper article back in the Spring reported that the owner has talked of spending $35 million to reestablish a hot springs resort at the site.

Another pipe emitting mineral water as it flows into a narrow channel heading down a steep defile towards the La Vida property.  Unfortunately, trash has piled up in this area, as well.

About 12:30, the day's adventure ended with tremendous regret that the time wasn't better spent at the mall instead of in the outdoors enjoying the fabulous weather, million-dollar views, the spotting of a couple of deer, and the enjoyment of solitude and the canyon's natural beauty.

Despite the crumbling portion at the foreground right, this historic tank structure, dating to the 1920s, is still perched on the hill at the western end of the La Vida Mineral Springs property.

Hikes like this are a true cause for thanksgiving.

Towers of Terror: Time for Tallying the Toll?

It is now certainly over, but a 10:00 "Chino Hills Towers Town Meeting" was held at Chino Hills City Hall and sponsored by Representative Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) to discuss the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) and the aftermath of the decision of the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to force Southern California Edison to dismantle the massive 198-foot towers built within Chino Hills as part of that project and direct the transmission lines underground.

Royce, as has been the case before, issued a four-color mailer, at taxpayer expense, which begins with a "Dear Friends" letter, stating, "We did it.  The fight to stop the monster electrical towers that would have had a devastating impact on the community is close to over and it looks like the towers are coming down." 

The expressed intent of the meeting was to "update you on everything involving the tower fight, and discuss what's next as we work to protect the community," based on the fact that "the PUC's order to remove the towers is being appealed."  While Royce opined that "I do not believe the appeal will succeed, we need to remain vigilant to the end of the process."

In a longer statement on the reverse of the card, Royce reprinted his statement welcoming the CPUC's reversal and, in a way he had not done previously, thanking state Assembly member Curt Hagman, Chino Hills mayor Peter Rogers, and the grassroots group Hope for the Hills for their work in fighting the towers.  Photos show Royce on a tour of the towers and in a meeting, the latter of which is captioned that "Rep. Royce met with anti-tower leaders to discuss his strategy before their successful trip to the Public Utilities Commission meeting in San Francisco."

Whatever role Royce may have played in some advisory capacity, whether or not the staged photo really did include "his strategy," which went unexplained in any case, there is still the question of why a federal elected official, including his colleague Rep. Gary Miller, who was soon on his way to moving out of the district Royce was going to win to another one in the Fontana area, became so involved in something that was truly a state matter. 

As noted here previously, the much-touted congressional field hearing, purportedly about the applicability of Federal Housing Administration loan guarantees in the areas adjacent to the tower right-of-way, was essentially a pretense, without actual foundation as testimony at that hearing as well as existing FHA policies cited in previous posts showed, for making the involvement of Reps. Royce and Miller an actual "federal issue."

As a political independent who registered in the 1980s as a "decline to state" voter and who maintains what is hopefully a healthy distrust of posturing and action across the political spectrum, the irony here is that these conservative Republicans often make a point of calling for limited federal intrusion in local affairs--that is, until they don't.  This kind of thing can (and does) certainly happen with Democrats, too!

Regarding Royce's call for vigilance on the appeal of the CPUC reversal, it does not appear that there is any reason to believe that the appeal is anything other than a pure formality and The Champion has reported this week that Southern California Edison is moving quickly on the preliminary work for the three-year project to reroute the TRTP underground.  Reporter Marianne Napoles stated that Edison "is acquiring at total of 85 parcels" that are in the right-of-way held for several decades by the utility giant.  Of these, 42 are residential and another ten are commercial.  The remainder are primarily owned by the City of Chino Hills.

An article generated by The Champion and found online earlier this week highlighted the fact that, of the residential land that will be picked up by Edison, a number involve the taking of substantial portions of rear yards of houses, including some on Yellowstone Circle in a small wedge of Chino that is in the path of the underground portion of the project.  In one instance, a homeowner will have virtually all of their yard taken because the right-of-way extends to within inches of a room addition built by a previous resident.  There are other houses that are affected, if not quite in that dramatic a fashion, by the proceedings. 

In another irony, while the opponents of the above-ground towers talked mainly about potential threats and effects of the behemoths, now that they are coming down, the actual and real consequences of the underground work are starting to reveal themselves (this being the tempered triumph referred to in the last post here.)  There will also be commercial property that will have to be vacated as a result of the change in the project.

The Napoles piece goes into some detail about the nature of the underground work.  The three years of construction will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays (in Chino it will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday), but all subject to change involving extended hours and Sunday work; involve significant boring and trenching; the construction of massive vaults and equipment; two transfer stations that will guide the lines from above to below ground and back again at the west and east ends of the affected areas and these stations will be on three-acre parcels with elements that are going to be 133 feet high.  These appear to involve what are described in the article as "a lattice steel transmission structure [that] will be built adjacent to each transition station to feed the overhead wires into the stations."

The eastern station will be constructed at the former Chino Hills city yard on Pipeline Avenue next to the 71 Freeway, adjacent to which are two Montessori preschools.  Presumably, the health and safety of the children and adults at the facilities will not be compromised--note that very generalized health and safety concerns had been raised by the opponents of the towers. 

As for the westernmost station, the paper identified the location as near the end of Eucalyptus Avenue in the Gordon Ranch area, though the proximity of the three-acre site to houses was not specified.  What was stated by Edison engineering staff was that the station would involve "extensive terracing and leveling of the hillside."

West of that point, the massive towers will remain, including in the vicinity of the Oak Tree Downs exclusive gated community, a constituency that, like the folks on Yellowstone Circle had little say in the process of determining the fate of the TRTP towers.

Meantime, The Champion article also noted that there was to be a "commemoration" of the revamped TRTP project at Coral Ridge Park yesterday afternoon with CPUC chairperson Michael Peevey, a former Edison executive, the current SCE president, Ronald Litzinger, and Mayor Rogers. 

To reiterate--there is every sympathy to those who faced having to live in the shadows of 198-foot tall towers and no one would want to do so.  Hope for the Hills conducted a highly successful campaign for reasons that were mainly relatable and understandable, but largely based on speculative concerns, including disaster scenarios of falling towers, exposure to high levels of EMF radiation, and declining home property values, which even then was an arguable point, as found in the field hearing conducted by Reps. Miller and Royce.  Recall that a major point was made of declining home values and sales in the early stages of the towers' construction, which was certainly more a reflection of the fallout from the economic collapse of 2008, given that values and sales have risen in the last few years.

And, the CPUC bears the lion's share of the blame for this fiasco by first approving and then, while construction was well underway, reversing itself. 

But now, revelations are coming out that show that there will be actual and real impacts on other residents and businesses of both Chino Hills and Chino now that the project is going underground for 3.5 miles for three years.  In this battle of wills, as opposed to a fight for "truth", there are clear winners and losers, but, in the latter category, joining Edison are local residential and commercial residents and property owners.

The question, ultimately, is whether the reversal will, on balance, have been worth it.  And that is almost entire a subjective question, which can't be quantified but qualified according to whose vested interest is examined.

Finally, regarding that "commemoration" held yesterday, presumably, there wasn't room for it in the backyard of the woman on Yellowstone Circle who soon won't have a backyard or any value to her house should she try to sell it.

 

Towers of Terror: A Tempered Triumph?

Earlier today, the California Public Utilities Commission by a split 3-2 margin approved commission president Michael Peevey's "alternate decision" ordering Southern California Edison to remove the existing 198-foot tall "towers of terror" from Section 8 of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project and reroute the lines underground for 3 1/2 miles through primarily residential areas of Chino Hills. 

This order reverses a 2009 affirmative ruling by the commission allowing SCE to construct the towers and the company made significant headway before a halt was ordered pending the appeal and review by the commission.  About a month ago, Peevey's "alternate decision" was countered by a non-binding ruling by the commission's administrative law judge Jean Vieth which determined that Edison should not have to rework the segment underground because it was an undue burden on the company.

This was an impressive, hard-fought victory to the City of Chino Hills and, especially, the grass-roots organization Hope for the Hills, which had a significant contingent of members present at today's hearing.  Their achievement is notable and they are to be congratulated for their successful strategy.

Obviously, there will be some significant impacts with the underground work: mainly in the establishment of two large vaults at the western and eastern end of the 3 1/2 mile work area and the tunneling under major thoroughfares, principally Chino Hills Parkway and Pipeline Avenue.  Future maintenance might well be more difficult and costly with below-ground components as opposed to what would have been above the surface.

But, for those living next to or quite near the segment, the extra effort and expense will, naturally, be worth it.  As for everyone else, whether in Chino Hills or in Edison's broad service areas, the matter is somewhat different.  Some will argue that spreading the cost of conducting the underground work among all of Edison's ratepayers benefits a few at the expense of the many.  Proponents of the underground work will respond that the cost, per household, is small when calculated over the course of years.

What seems obvious to this observer is that the split vote, far removed from unanimity, reflects the fact that the battle over the Towers of Terror was not fundamentally about right versus wrong.  It was not really about the indisputability of EMF exposure risks or the likelihood of a catastrophic failure of a tower or several towers, or the assurance of billions and billions of declining property values should the project have been allowed to continue. 

Rather, this was, it seems, a decision reflective of the power of political persuasion.  In this sense, Hope for the Hills and the City of Chino Hills, aided by others, mounted an astute and skillful campaign.  There was no way really to know whether those behemoths represented anything more than a visual and, perhaps, auditory nuisance.  But, it doesn't matter now, although the matter is hardly finished.  The work to bury the lines and the years that follow will be interesting to observe to see whether the reversal turned out to be the total triumph the victors now savor or will be tempered by other sets of realities that might arise.

For now, Hope for the Hills, the City and their allies have much to celebrate.

Here are some links to sources on today's decision:

KNBC-TV news:  here
Pasadena Star-News:  here
Inland News Today:  here

Towers of Terror: Takes Two to Tangle

On returning from vacation this weekend, news was learned, first via the Champion and then other news outlets, about the "Towers of Terror two-fer Tuesday."

That is, 11 June wasn't just the day when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Administrative Law Judge June Vieth was to issue her finding, albeit it non-binding, about whether the massive 198-foot tall transmission towers for the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) should be continued as started or redirected underground.

There was another event in store:  this being a declaration by CPUC's president Michael Peevey, a former Edison exec no less, about the issue.  This was not something discussed in the local press in its coverage of the pending decision by Judge Vieth, perhaps because it was not known that Peevey would weigh in on the same day.

In any event, Vieth has determined that, while rerouting the lines underground was feasible, it was not warranted and that the towers should be completed in their current configuration.

Peevey, however, took another tack and determined that the towers should be brought down and the lines redirected in the underground configuration fought for by the grassroots community organization, Hope for the Hills, and the City of Chino Hills for several years now.

This dichotomy means that Hope for the Hills has hope still alive and well and the City can continue to fight on another day.

While that day has long been assumed to be the CPUC's 11 July meeting in San Francisco, it turns out that the matter could be pushed back to the following confab on the 25th or perhaps beyond. 

This isn't the first time, as Hope for the Hills president Bob Goodwin has pointed out, that the CPUC's judge and commissioners disagreed about a given issue.  The question, of course, is whether the full commission will side with Judge Vieth's view or adopt Peevey's perspective.

With that, it will be at least three plus weeks and maybe six weeks or so before a final verdict is handed down.  With the polarized positions of Vieth and Peevey, it will be very interesting to see what the deciding ruling will be and why it was made.

For coverage of Tuesday's events, click here for Canan Tasci's coverage in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin as well as here for Molly Peterson's "Pacific Swell" blog on the Web page of KPCC radio.

Towers of Terror: Tottering Towards the Terminus

On Tuesday, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) administrative judge Jean Vieth will issue her decree on whether Southern California Edison's construction of massive 200-foot tall towers for the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) will be allowed to proceed through Chino Hills or if they will be forced to remove them and build an underground system for the project's lines.

In today's Champion edition, reporter Marianne Napoles wrote that Bob Goodwin, the president of Hope for the Hills, the grassroots organization that has mounted an impressive campaign to fight the construction of the towers, "said he does not expect a decision in favor of burying the lines."  This appears to be the first tacit admission by Goodwin and his organization that Vieth's pending ruling may not go their way.

At the same time, however, Goodwin cautions that there is still hope for Hope for the Hills and opponents of the towers, in that the CPUC will hold public hearings on the matter in San Francisco on 11 July (a Hope for the Hills banner near the Chino Hills Community Park calls for interested parties to join a bus trip the organization is planning for attendance at the hearings.)  Goodwin noted at least one other instance of where Judge Vieth's ruling was overturned by the CPUC at a subsequent hearing and he maintains that it is possible that a reversal could happen with the TRTP Section 8 issue, as well.

There is, however, other news that could very likely have a significant impact on the Section 8 question as well as every other matter relating to electricity supplies in California.  This is Edison's announcement just yesterday (see the Los Angeles Times article here) that it was closing the San Onofre nuclear power plant along the coast near Camp Pendleton.

For those who have been following that matter, the nearly four decade old plant had been shuttered for quite some time after radiation leaked from tubes into the atmosphere, despite the installation of replacement components to the new facility.  Faced with further delays by regulators, Edison decided, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on continued operating costs at the facility and for replacement power to cover what San Onofre used to produce, to shutter the plant.

Because San Onofre, at its peak, generated 9% of all the state's electricity and supplied power to some 1.4 to 1.7 million houses, mainly in San Diego and Orange counties, there is going to be more incentive/pressure to find new sources for energy production in those areas serviced by SCE.  The timely completion of the TRTP would, presumably, be uppermost in the minds of the commissioners of the CPUC as they review the Section 8 matter and any other upcoming projects.

This is especially true because, obviously, the shuttering of San Onofre means that supplies of electricity will be tighter this summer and for the next couple of years in its main service areas.  Among those things proposed to help bolster supply are better efficiency in homes and businesses; more natural gas-fired plants; the use of wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable sources; and, lastly and more relevantly for the Section 8 dustup, "adding new long-distance transmission lines."

With the TRTP well along in construction and the Section 8 controversy being the only hindrance of any significance currently, it can be construed that the CPUC might be more easily disposed to ruling in Edison's favor on the Section 8 case.

For now, we'll see what Judge Vieth determines on Tuesday.

Towers of Terror: Tangents Traversing the Trail to "The Truth"

Last Monday, a slick four-color publication came in the mail with the moniker of The Royce Reporter, this tax-payer funded newsletter coming from Representative Ed Royce, whose newly-configured district includes Chino Hills as of the fall 2012 elections.

When the redistricting was announced and the election pending, Royce took the opportunity to leap into the fray with the "Towers of Terror," otherwise known as the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, and its eighth section comprising largely of 200-foot tall transmission towers in a narrow 40-foot wide easement owned by Southern California Edison. 

Even though the congressional representative at the time was Gary Miller, soon to realize that beating Royce in the new district was impossible and who then moved to Fontana from Diamond Bar to run for election there, Royce plunged headlong into promoting the idea that the TRTP could be made into a "federal issue" by finding a link to the project via houses near the new towers and their applicability to Federal Housing Administration insured loan guidelines.

As pointed out in this blog, however, the rationale and the logic were, to put it simply, flawed.  The fact was that FHA criteria for appraisers examining properties state very clearly that the houses had to be in the easement for loans to be denied FHA insurance.  While appraisers were expected to comment on the proximity to high-voltage transmission lines, and a whole lot else, and the potential effect on marketability and value, the FHA would not deny insurance in such a case.

Undaunted, Royce and Miller went ahead and scheduled an April 2012 field hearing in Chino Hills on the House Financial Services Committee, again tax-payer funded, to bring attention to the question.

In The Royce Reporter, the representative made a point of claiming that "our hearing brought attention to the looming community disaster and helped convince the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to look at alternatives."  While it would be expected that the newsletter would try to secure credit for Royce, it was more than a little surprising, perhaps, that almost no mention was made of the significant amount of effort expended by the grassroots community organization Hope for the Hills, which merited one minor mention in the publication, or the City of Chino Hills and its long-running efforts to fight the project.

Moreover, right under this claim is a timeline (see image above) that very clearly states that the project was halted in October 2011 and that, in November, the CPUC ordered Edison to offer alternatives for the project other than the above-ground construction recently suspended.  This was months before the vaunted hearing.

Further, Royce's involvement with this project did not appear to begin until after the November CPUC order--this blog had a post dated 26 November 2011 noting that Royce had issued a mailer that arrived the previous day (see here for that post) and which invited residents (and presumed future constituents) for a "meet and greet" with him at the Summit Ranch community in Carbon Canyon on 4 December.

The timeline then has a gap of nearly a year, because Royce still had to win the election, which was a foregone conclusion with Miller's exodus to the foothills and the overwhelming Republican support in the newly-demarcated district, but it does note that on 26 February 2013, "Rep. Royce contacts the CPUC in support of undergrounding [verb?] the towers," and that, two days later, the CPUC "gives the green light for Edison to being preliminary work to move the lines underground."  This was written, seemingly, as if the two events were intricately connected.

As can be seen in the 28 February 2013 blog post here, the link between Rep. Royce's contact and the decision by the CPUC, which was hardly a "green light . . . to begin preliminary work to move the lines underground," is , , , um, debatable.

Now, despite the fact that FHA appraiser guidelines specifically indicate that insured loans were only a problem for properties within an easement, this flyer highlighted an assertion made by Rep. Royce at the April 2012 hearing that, "the FHA requires an underwriter to obtain a letter from the owner of the tower noting a given dwelling as not being within the engineered fall zone of a given tower."

Yet, as noted here, from a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) property and appraisal webinar's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, this is only a half-truth and not quite the most important half:

If the dwelling or related property improvement is located within the easement of a high voltage tower, the lender must obtain a letter from the owner or operator of the tower indicating that the dwelling and its related property improvements are not located within the tower's (engineered) fall distance in order to waive this requirement.

The emphasis here is on the first part—if the dwelling or improvement on the property is located within the easement of a high voltage tower.   The reality is, uncomfortably close as many houses are to the massive towers, none of them is actually "within the easement."

As stated above, in another HUD document pertaining to Valuation Protocol FAQs, which can be accessed here, this is the explanation to a question about eligibility:

If a living unit is located outside the easement then the property is eligible for FHA financing. However, the appraiser is instructed to note and comment on the effect on marketability resulting from the proximity to such site hazards and/or nuisances.

In this case, the second sentence is a notable one, concerning "marketability" of a property, and whether houses in close proximity to the 200-foot behemoths would be hard to sell or at least at a decent market rate.

Another major point made in the Royce mailer is that, because property values in Chino Hills declined by 17% in the year prior to the April 2012 hearing and much of which occurred while the "towers of terror" were being erected, the drop was directly attributable to the project.

Firstly, there is no way to know if the TRTP work had anything directly to do with the property value fall.  While it is certainly possible that this could have been the case for houses near the looming towers, any drop in, say, Butterfield Ranch or the tracts off Chino Avenue could hardly have anything to do with the project.

Moreover, in the year since the hearing, prices in the city have risen some 11 or 12% and, again, whether a property in Vellano or Los Serranos Ranch or Laband Village has seen a growth in market value would seemingly have nothing to do with developments with the TRTP.

It is also notable that, at the April 2012 hearing (the 97-page transcript for that hearing may be accessed here,) Bobbi Borland of the federal Housing and Urban Development office in Santa Ana testified that, in Chino Hills, "approximately 3 percent of homes have mortgages insured through FHA."  Even if a higher percentage of those were near the towers, this is still a very small proportion of residences, meaning that the whole issue raised by representatives Miller and Royce was, in fact, blown out of proportion.  Additionally, Borland stated that, "FHA does collect a limited amount of appraisal data but does not track valuation or home price trends to the zip code level."  When it comes to risks to the agency's insured loans in areas near transmission lines, she observed that, "it is important to note that payment default may have many causes, and there is simply no easy way to identify whether a default was driven by property value declines attributed to nearby transmission lines."

When Rep. Miller questioned Borland, he asked "If a home is outside of the easement area but within the gall zone, does that have an impact on FHA's ability to loan?," she responded that FHA insures, but does not issue loans.   Admittedly, this blogger did not make that distinction in earlier posts, but it was a little more surprising that a member of the House Financial Services Committee did not know what the FHA did with loans, even as he answered, "I understand that," when she clarified.

In any case, Borland also stated that "our guidelines state that it does not impact the FHA loan.  It would be up to the individual lender," meaning that the decision to not issue a loan to a residence near a transmission line is a private matter, not a federal one, and therefore completely outside the jurisdiction of the House Financial Services Committee.

Having said all this, Miller raised the possibility that the proximity to the towers could possibly be a reason for an appraiser to lower the value of a house and when Borland responded (or started to) with, "I can't really comment on the lender's . . .," Miller cut her off and then she indicated that, "it was possible."  The operative definition of "possible" could be interpreted myriad ways under the circumstances.

This is especially true when the discussion went into the "fall zone," it being posited that, in case of collapse, the towers would fall outward, even though they have 50' bases in concrete below ground and are, actually, designed to collapse downward.  When this distinction was pointed out, however, Miller simply uttered that this made him feel much better and he turned and asked Royce if he felt the same way.

As to whether proximity to transmission lines hurt property values, Chino Hills realtor Marion Profitt stated,

while CAR does not possess statistics to show what the impact on pricing may or may not be due to a home's proximity to the power lines, I can tell you from my 20 years of experience that for some home buyers, it does matter. Just recently I took an investor to see a property that backed up to an easement, and its mere location next to that easement was enough for them to say no. However, this isn't the case for every buyer. Many have no problem living next to the power lines, but there are many buyers I have worked with who require a discounted sales price or who will refuse to buy one of the properties. I have spoken with many other realtors  in Chino Hills and they have shared similar experiences to mine.

This can compared to the testimony of Fred Kreger of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals, who observed that,

through my 10 years of experience as a mortgage professional, I can safely say that the impact of high voltage transmission lines on property values and FHA eligibility has
been somewhat minimal. On a monthly basis, I originate many loans within the surrounding cities and counties, of which FHA loans serve an important role for my particular clients. I have yet to have a customer encounter difficulties with their FHA
eligibility due to high voltage power lines. 

Kreger further added that,

in my experience, the appraisers will note the presence of  high voltage transmission lines. However, the effect on the marketability of the home value is minimal, if any. Over years of research and study, I have concluded that although community members and homeowners have negative feelings towards high voltage power lines, their presence is apparently not given sufficient enough weight by buyers and sellers of real estate to have any consistent, material effect on market value."

And, even though Profitt expressed concern about FHA financing in Chino Hills (remember that only 3% of all residences in the city have FHA-insured morgages), Kreger stated that, "I see no problems in terms of eligibility of FHA insured mortgage programs" and the question of transmission line proximity.

The point of all this is not to take sides on the issue of whether the towers should be allowed to stay above or under ground, but to question the motivation and justification for the involvement of local representatives in the federal government in what is, truly, a state matter (this is, perhaps, more than a little ironic given that conservatives often invoke the mantra of "states rights" in so many cases of alleged federal overreach.)

Reps. Miller and Royce, angling for advantages in election campaigns in realigned congressional districts, clearly overreached in making the argument that FHA-insured loans were the entry point for their involvement and used tax-payer monies for the debatable stretch in logic.

Talk about making something a "federal issue."

Towers of Terror Treading Towards Tumult?

The Champion's 19 April edition featured a front-page piece by Marianne Napoles about a two-hour teleconference held between California Public Utilities Commission administrative judge Jean Vieth, who will make a final ruling in July, and interested parties over the fate of the Section 8 portion of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP).  The project, which was approved by the CPUC in 2009, started by Edison shortly afterward, and which had several of its freakishly tall 198-foot towers installed before an outcry from local residents forming the Hope for the Hills grassroots organization and from the City of Chino Hills, has been halted by the CPUC pending a review.

Since the construction stopped in late 2011, the City, Edison and the CPUC have been engaged in various forms of dialogue leading to the anticipated summer decision by Vieth over the future direction of the project.  Namely, the question is whether rerouting the lines underground are feasible.  The City has argued that it is, Edison has put out figures that place the cost at hundreds of millions of dollars, and the CPUC will make its decision, it now looks, solely on the feasibility and cost questions of the underground rerouting.

Vieth, in fact, all but quashed any notion that the height of the towers, the alleged safety risks from their placement in a very narrow 40-foot easement, the supposed EMF effects that have been claimed, the aesthetics and presumed property value declines have anything to do with what her final decision will be.

She did open the door to testimony about whether completed portions of the project could serve the Inland Empire without the Section 8 part being finished.  That will be provided by engineer Charles Mee of the CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, though the judge denied a motion by that group to expand the scope of the hearings which began this week in San Francisco, stating that the focus will be on the time, cost, and feasibility of putting the lines below ground.

Vieth also disallowed testimony by Hope for the Hills advocates and Chino Hills City Manager Michael Fleager as immaterial to the fundamental questions because aesthetics and opinions about presumed effects of the project were and are not at play.  She did permit some Hope for the Hills photographs to be submitted into evidence, but remarked that they were quite similar to renderings that appeared in the Environmental Impact Report required by the California Environmental Quality Act (which, by the way, is the target of a dramatic overhaul by Governor Brown to streamline building projects!)

Meantime, renewable energy organizations and TURN (The Utility Reform Network) are calling upon the CPUC to carefully consider the effects that placing the lines underground would have with respect to higher costs, including ones not anticipated in Edison's figures, which are already massive, and to construction delays brought about by the highly complicated process, which would also provide invasive in different ways than the current soaring towers jutting 20 stories towards the sky.

Again, it is hard to say what this all means with regards to a final adjudication in July, but Vieth's pointed comments about focusing on money, time, and practicability and her flat rejection of questions of aesthetics or neighborhood impacts are potentially very telling.  As stated here before, the public pressure effectively spearheaded by Hope for the Hills and accompanied by $3.5 million dollars expended by the City of Chino Hills to fight the towers may ultimately be blunted by a drawn-out process as orchestrated by the CPUC with negotiations, conferences, hearings and other administrative and bureaucratic mechanisms.

Why the CPUC would approve this project in 2009, face a barrage of open, public criticism stemming from grass-roots organizing and city rebuttals, and then undergo a 2-year cycle of reexamination only to fundamentally alter a project well into the later stages, in which construction contractors, renewable energy companies and other vendors could lose bundles of money and time (which, naturally, is $), would be truly stunning.

This may not be comparable, but the notorious California bullet train project might be illustrative.  After all of the approvals and the onset of early construction, an outcry about the cost and invasiveness of the project led to reconsideration, rehearings and etc.  Yet, the project, whether merited or not, is continuing on with some quite minor modifications.

How different will the TRTP through Chino Hills be?  If, as is very possible, the costs are deemed too high, the time lag too damaging, and the feasilbility too suspect, then the CPUC will allow the project to continue, behemoth towers looming over a benighted city and all.  All the time and money, evidence and exhibits, talk and more talk, will have yielded nothing fundamentally changed.

But, at least the CPUC could say that it gave the project a careful and considered reexamination.  At least Hope for the Hills could say, rightfully, that it gave a truly spirited and surprisingly effective effort to stop the towers.  At least the City of Chino Hills could say that it marshaled millions of dollars of taxpayer money for a presumed just cause.  No one need assume blame but can pass it on to someone else.

Then again, maybe the project will be ordered under ground, after all.   All we can do is stay tuned.

Towers of Terror: Twists, Tweaks and Turns

The current Hope for the Hills banner at the summit of the S-curve on Carbon Canyon Road in Chino Hills.  The quote is from a stump speech in late October 1964 on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater by Ronald Reagan, soon after elected California governor and, of course, president later.  The quotation concerned the threat of communism and the new war in Vietnam, but how applicable is it now to the TRTP's "towers of terror"?

UPDATE, 29 MARCH 2013:  Tomorrow's edition of The Champion has an article reporting that the California Public Utilities Commission has requests, within a few days, greater detail from the City of Chino Hills regarding their $76 million contribution towards rerouting the power lines underground.  CPUC administrative judge Jane Vieth asked for a chart denoting the present value of the various elements of the proposal, noting that this would not take much effort beyond what has already been expended.

Meantime, the editorial section of the paper has taken the city to task for putting this proposal out there without having a public meeting at a city council meeting, per the state's Brown Act requirements, or a council vote.  The editorial made sure to express that the question wasn't about the wisdom of the decision to offer the contribution, but the means by which it was done.  Council members and City Manager Fleager argue that the closed-door sessions that generated the proposal were sufficient and that a vote was not necessary.

Related news is that a wind energy association was reported as urging, in a 25 March letter, that the CPUC allow Edison to charge ratepayers for delays caused by the fight over the Chino Hills segment of the TRTP project, noting that wind energy firms affected by the delays have to account for federal tax incentives for projects started in 2013.  The stoppage of segment 8 work affects the ability of these providers to meet the criteria for the incentives, but through no fault of their own, as the argument goes.

Then, a group called The Utility Reform Network (TURN) has asked the CPUC to allow it to be an official party to the proceedings involving the segment 8 dispute.  Its concern is that SCE could raise rates to customers by as much as 36% to cover the costs of redirecting the lines through Chino Hills underground and wants to be able to officially record its views on the matter.  Judge Vieth granted that request.

Also, within a day or two of the above photo being taken and posted, a new banner, considerably less notable and noticeable, appeared on the spot, merely asking for people to support the removal of the massive 198' towers that are the subject of Hope for the Hills' impressive grassroots efforts.

ORIGINAL POST:  This past Saturday's edition of The Champion had an interesting update on the controversy involving the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) and its colossal Segment 8 power poles that were halted mid-construction in much of Chino Hills.

Namely, the City of Chino Hills has announced that it is willing to contribute over $70 million in financial arrangements to have the power lines relocated underground instead of strung along the eighteen massive towers looming (or threatening to so loom) almost 200 feet high along a 3 and 1/2 mile corridor.

After an order from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which approved the project in 2009 and now is reexamining its own decision, which instructed the city to clearly lay out its commitment to help cover the costs associated with burying the lines, City Manager Michael Fleager gave testimony to that effect.

While in other circumstances, Southern California Edison (SCE) would pay for construction costs and then recover them through rate increases, the CPUC order led to Fleager to assert that the city was against having Edison force city ratepayers to directly absorb the costs to relocate the line underground.

In the proposed package, the city would convey land, including any potential revenue in that property, the expense to the city for the loss of the parcels, and the maintenance of the landscape and other aspects in the expanded right-of-way, which includes portions that are city-owned and which would host two proposed transition stations Edison states are required for the buried lines. 

Among the items in the revenue stream lost by the city and picked up by the utility are telecommunications licensing fees on the infrastructure owned by Edison; landscape costs for a 20-foot strip on three miles of the right-of-way on top of the underground cable network to mitigate the emission of electro-magnetic field elements; an estimated $200,000 a year of maintenance costs for this landscape; and abating weeds and the mowing of areas on the right-of-way that are not improved at an estimated cost of over $7,000 per year.  According to city officials, over four decades, these landscape elements would incur costs of over $30,000,000, which would constitute about 45% of the larger $70,000,000 figure given by Fleager.

Council member Ed Graham was quoted as saying that the city would not allow Edison to charge residents of the city for the construction costs directly, "so instead we had to show a long-term commitment on how much the city was willing to invest into the Tehachapi project."  Just how Edison will respond to the package and its 40-year projection, much less the CPUC, which is slated to make a final decision on whether to order the lines relocated underground or to allow Edison to proceed with the towers, will be interesting to observe.

Towers of Terror Taking a Telltale Turn?

In an e-mail received several hours ago from Assembly member Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills,) the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered Southern California Edison to being pre-construction planning and design work for underground routing of a section of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) through some of Chino Hills.

This order, voted by the CPUC today, is done while the commission works toward a decision on forcing SCE to remove some of the massive 198-foot tall towers it has completed or partially finished on its 40-foot wide easement through the city.  This decision is to be made in July, but the commission specifically cited the deadline of having the project up and running within about two years.

CPUC president Michael Peevey observed that the purpose of this latest order is to create "a complete record that will allow us to determine whether to authorize undergrounding a portion of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project that runs through Chino Hills."  The idea would be that, if the commission were to approve the realignment of this part of the project underground, Edison woulld already have the work done in advance to allow the utility to proceed with the underground construction quickly to meet that 2015 deadline.

Activities covered by the pre-construction order include cable testing at a cost up to $3 million; general engineering up to $1.5 million; the groundwork for acquiring property up to $200,000; an environmental survey and preparations for appropriate permitting at no more than $250,000.

If the CPUC were to not order that the underground work be mandates, Edison would stop all work leading towards that, including any contracts for manufacturing and installation of lines and associated elements.  In this case, the utility could recoup up to $28 million in contract termination charges and these costs would be covered by the CPUC.

Looking at the CPUC order linked to Assembly member Hagman's e-mail blast, the first sentence makes it clear that the decision was made pursuant to a request by Edison "for rate recovery for reasonable costs it will need to incur in the next few months" before the expected July decision and if the project is to be completed by late 2015.

The commission went on to state that "we conclude, on balance, that it is in the public interest for SCE to undertake specified pre-construction activities and to incur the costs associated with those activities," while noting that "this determination necessarily means that SCE may be entitled to reover reasonable expenditures in the amount of as much as $32.95 million" if the CPUC was to decide not to force the utility to route the project underground in the affected area "after a review on the merits." The commission ruling also indicated that the existing halt on construction of the above-ground work on the section through Chino Hills is not affected by the decision.

The ruling is an 18-page document, much of which reviews the curious history of the project, which was approved by the CPUC in 2009 and, yet, came for review on an appeal from the City of Chino Hills (in turn spurred on in large measure by the impressive grass-roots work of the Hope for the Hills organization), which yielded the stay of construction and the review which has slowly moved onward since then, leading to the July hearing.

Notably, however, the commission crafted its wording on this upcoming meeting by averring that, "today's decision will determine whether we ever consider [emphasis added] that ultimate issue [in other words, the decision to either order or not the placing of the project underground] on its merits."

It is also important to note this genesis of today's decision: "though SCE is ont an underground proponent, SCE's rate recovery proposal [to cover costs associated with any work preparatory to the undergound pre-construction] seeks a finding from this Commission that it would be in the public interest for SCE to undertake certain activities now—essentially to accelerate them—in advance of our decision."

Also of significance is that the decision was made in large measure because of concerns expressed by other interested parties in the TRTP, such as renewable energy companies who are associated with the project and naturally are concerned about any potential delays engendered by the controversyhere in Chino Hills.

Again being particularly cautious in its approach to this issue, the CPUC stated:

"We recognize, as the parties do, that direction to a utility to engage in pre-construction activities is unusual – we would much prefer to wait until we are in the position to issue a decision on whether or not to underground Segment 8A following full development of the record. But in this unique situation, if we wait, we certainly will delay commercial operation of the TRTP. That clearly is not in the public interest. At this stage in our review of Chino Hills’ petition for modification, we find it reasonable to continue that review, as long as the associated costs of the additional and necessary pre-construction activities are not disproportionately large."

Moreover, the commission stated quite clearly that, "We must assume that ratepayers could be at risk for the actual value of all costs reasonably incurred," while also observing that any rate increases requested by Edison must be approved by federal regulatory officials.

As to Edison's oft-asserted view that there should be certain contingencies for unexpected costs, the commission commented that, "We strongly question SCE’s assertion that various uncertainties associated with the potential undergrounding of Segment 8A demand a 50% contingency."  It also implored the utility to consider any mitigation towards the procurement of materials for the pre-production element, including restocking for other Edison projects or resale.

Finally, the order concludes with more cautionary language: 

"The purpose of this interim decision is quite limited. We decline to revise findings or conclusions on the great importance of timely completion of the TRTP or the role of Segment 8A to that effort. If any party believes our existing decisions are insufficient, then after a showing of changed facts or policy, we will consider appropriate revisions. That showing has not been made here, nor is this the correct forum. Likewise, for the same reasons, we decline to add findings or conclusions on the potential financial impact to generators, renewable or conventional, of alleged construction delays along some part of the TRTP to date."

So, while proponents of the rerouting of the TRTP through much of Chino Hills are declaring this latest manifestation to be a victory (and it is, to a point, in at least getting this far with the reconsideration of an already-approved and in-process) project, it is certainly a narrow, specific and limited decision.  Additionally, the CPUC is certainly not "tipping its hand" by giving any hint or indication of what it might due come July (and there are further hearings scheduled for April.)  It's highly guarded language about today's decision having an impact on "whether we ever consider" the likelihood of forcing an underground route is striking.

Assembly member Hagman's statement that the decision by the Commission "has begin to untie the stranglehold on the residents of Chino Hills" is an interesting interpretation, especially as the CPUC was quite careful to word its decision based on the necessity to complete the entire project by 2015 and that the order was in response to an Edison request for rate recovery on accrued costs.  Yet, it is obviously true that, without the dogged determination of citizens and the legal efforts of the city, this point would never have been reached.

Whether the CPUC does the remarkable, astounding, and perhaps unprecedented and orders that the project go underground as desired by the city and Hope for the Hills remains to be seen, but the fact that the matter has evolved as it has is something already to behold.

Towers of Terror: No Hope for the [Chino] Hills?

In Saturday's edition of the Champion, the controversial TRTP renewable energy project with its nearly 200-foot tall towers has made headlines with the route through Carbon Canyon, rather than the more infamous portion that passes through houses along a corridor near Eucalyptus Avenue.

That is, there are five miles of the route through the City of Chino Hills, but the lion's share of the attention has come with the 3 1/2 miles that is through the most heavily populated portion at the eastern end.  The western 1 1/2 miles, which is through the Chino Hills to the north of Carbon Canyon, does not pass through as developed an area, except, notably, the gated community of large and expensive custom houses in Oak Tree Downs, the north end of which comes quite near to the route of the TRTP project.

As reported by Marianne Napoles, however, Edison, while presenting, on order of the California Public Utilities Commission, alternatives for placing the towers, some of which are already installed, underground in that eastern section, has not shown any plans to do so for three towers that are to be placed next to the high-end subdivision in the hillier, western portions.  The reason for this, not surprisingly, is all about the terrain and topography of the Chino Hills.

A week ago, however, an administrative judge for the CPUC, Jean Vieth, turned down SCE's request to resume work near Oak Tree Downs until it came back to her with a plan, in concert with the City of Chino Hills, to mitigate effects of the work on the residents there.  Then, Edison would need to file a motion for a project modification and receive approval on that before restarting efforts.

The utility, in mid-December petitioned to be allowed to go back to work in the hills, but the City of Chino Hills protested in light of the fact that a final determination for the remaining 3 1/2 miles is to come by July anyway.  Council member Ed Graham commented that the City was not aware until January 2012 that Edison was going to install above-ground towers in the hills, though one would think that ths would be obvious given the terrain.  In any case, Graham was quoted in the Napoles article as stating that any attempt to provide estimates for placing the lines underground in the hills would have driven the project cost to such an astronomical level as to lead to an easy CPUC rejection.

Not surprisingly, residents of Oak Tree Downs were quoted in the piece as being dismayed by the prospect of having above-ground towers and this would certainly be exacerbated if the CPUC were to force SCE to place lines underground at that eastern 3 1/2 mile section, despite the obvious conclusion that the project has no practical alternatives for the three towers aside from towering at 200 feet over that north end of the development.

One homeowner, in particular, made a point of referring to himself and neighbors as "guinea pigs" and "expendable" because of the oft-alleged link between electrical lines and cases of leukemia and cancer.  As mentioned recently in this blog, there has been no official correlation made, though there are plenty of groups out there who feel otherwise.  This same person also offered that the project could only alienate "the entire Chino Hills community," though, in truth, the folks in Butterfield Ranch or Los Serranos probably have nowhere near the anger, angst and anxiety as those closest to the project.

It does make sense for nothing further to continue with the work until the decision is made by the CPUC in July about the underground alternatives proposed, at very high cost, by SCE recently.  So, it stands to reason that Judge Vieth might reject Edison's attempts to resume work in the western 1 1/2 mile section in the hills until that time.  This, however, remains to be seen.

Towers of Terror: TRTP Tottering/Teetering Towards Twenty-Thirteen

With the Chino Hills maternity "hotel" issue heating up in recent weeks, the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project controversy has gone from boiling to simmering and has gotten less attention.

Still, in the 7 December edition of the Champion, Marianne Napoles reported that Southern California Edison had issued a 100-plus page report, as required by the California Public Utilities Commission, concerning its projected costs for realigning the TRTP lines underground instead of strung along those massive 198-foot tall towers that are partially installed through portions of Chino Hills on a narrow easement owned by the utility.

SCE estimated the cost of its preferred underground route at a mind-blowing $620 million, juxtaposed with the $172 million expense of the above-ground route with the towers. Stating that there was no similar example of a "buried" system comparable to that of the TRTP, the company further offered that there was no realistic way to estimate the timeframe for the design, manufacturing, installation and test of the underground alternative.  In addition, the acquisition of property for such a line would entail additional time for either negotiations or condemnation of land necessary for the project alternative.  According to its "best case scenario," the first of two circuits could be completed by January 2016 and the second a year later. 

Though Edison, obviously, prefers to continue with the above-ground component with the towers, it came up with five potential underground routes with costs projected from just under a half-billion dollars to a little over $800 million.  In each case, the firm used a 50% contingency formula for unforseen costs, change orders and other possibilities.

To Chino Hills mayor Peter Rogers, the costs put forth in the report are "exorbitant" and do not reflect an average of costs in construction, but, rather, were simply the highest possible numbers.  Hope for the Hills president Bob Goodwin, meantime, accused SCE of overinflating costs to scare people from accepting the underground alternative.

Whatever the case, whether SCE is being reasonable or ridiculous in its cost estimates for the underground alternative, there will be a long wait until the CPUC makes its decision.  That is not expected until July, by which time it will be interesting to see how much momentum Hope for the Hills can reintroduce after the long lull and "competition" from the maternity "hotel" controversy. 

Its latest provocative banner in Carbon Canyon at the summit of the S-curve along Carbon Canyon Road warns motorists that they are entering SCE's EMF (electric and magnetic field) testing grounds, inferring that the project would contain unhealthful levels of EMF to those living near the towers.

The Environmental Protection Agency has this to say about the issue of EMF levels and power lines (click here), though, for those disposed to believe the EPA and governments generally cannot be trusted to provide truthful information about this issue (or, perhaps much else), this may not be satisfactory.  The Health Physics Society, a nearly 60-year old organization of professionals specializing in radiation safety issues, offers its views here.

On the other hand, those concerned about EMF could cite opposing views, such as this one from a company that makes products claimed to help reduce harmful exposure to EMF (click here to read more) or this one from EM Watch (see here.)  As with untold number of controversial issues, there is more than enough out there to advance one or more views that contradict one another.

Along Eucalpytus Avenue across from the Chino Hills Community Park, Hope for the Hills (click here for its Web site) has another banner that blames SCE for wildfires and other disasters and, as with the EMF issue, there could be plenty of material that absolves or admonishes the company for these problems, delives into the difference between accident and neglect, and so on.

Whether the CPUC, meanwhile, is reacting in a political way to the intense pressure put upon it by the effective propaganda and grass roots efforts of Hope for the Hills and the legal work initiated by the City of Chino Hills will be interesting to see come summer.

Will the Commission really force SCE to scrap tens of millions of dollars of completed work and go to the underground option which will, regardless of accusations of overinflation, will certainly drive the cost up by hundreds of millions of dollars? 

Or is it allowing the current "reexamination" process to lumber on for what will be a couple of years by the time it has made its decision in the hope that the scope of the underground project will be considered unacceptable or that either the activism spearheaded by Hope for the Hills will wane or that its effects will be watered down as time drags on?

As stated here before (and likely elsewhere), it is strange that the CPUC approved this project several years ago and then only realized that a review was necessary once Hope for the Hills launched its impressive drive, which, in turn, led the City of Chino Hills to authorize millions of dollars to mount legal challenges.

The events of 11 July when the Commission is slated to issue its ruling will, no matter the result, be a watershed day in the history of Chino Hills--that much is certain, but little else is.