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L.A. power plan cuts swath through protected lands
By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star
Following in the steps of a long and storied tradition of water wars and embattled land-use schemes, the City of Angels is once again advancing a proposal to further its own community interests that some worry will be at the expense of community interests elsewhere.
In response to new state laws calling for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and increased energy conservation measures statewide, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005 declared that 20 percent of the city’s power would be generated by alternative sources by 2010. A significant part of the mayor’s plan includes using geothermal and solar sources located near the Salton Sea.
Transmission of this energy over land will require a high-tension power line, and several of the tentative alternatives hook through the Hi-Desert. All of these alternatives share a common trunk that will run from the Coachella Valley up through Big Morongo Canyon Preserve before crossing Twentynine Palms Highway just east of Little Morongo Canyon and climbing from there into the hills.
Somewhere in the Sawtooth Mountains, one alternative branches off and runs east across Pioneertown Road to Old Woman Springs Road where it crosses in the vicinity of Flamingo Heights, and then proceeds north and then west through Johnson Valley and the Johnson Valley ORV Area to Hesperia.
Another alternative runs straight through Pioneertown and carries the name “Green Path North.” Recently identified in an L.A. Department of Water and Power e-mail as the “preferred alignment for Green Path North,” the route appears on a map to follow between the base of the hills and the residential streets west of Pioneertown Road. From here it continues north past the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness areas and wraps around west to Hesperia.
Partners in this venture are the City of Los Angeles, the Imperial Irrigation District — where geothermal energy is being produced and where production of solar energy is proposed — the Boston, Mass.-based Citizens Energy Corporation and the lead agency, the L.A. Department of Water and Power.
In a Nov. 16, 2005, press release from Villaraigosa’s office, the mayor praised the project as a step forward in the city’s efforts to shift away from fossil fuel use. The release went on to state, “The project will benefit residents and businesses in Los Angeles, Imperial, San Diego and Riverside counties.”
“So why do San Bernardino County residents and businesses have to suffer the blight of this transmission line?” is what many in the Morongo Basin are asking in many different ways.
An answer to this question will have to come from the Department of Water and Power and so far, the utility maintains that analysis hasn’t been completed on all potential corridors and, therefore, there is no argument why any particular corridor should be better than another.
When asked in a telephone interview why the Hi-Desert is even on the table as an alternative, considering the shortest route to L.A. from the Salton Sea would be along the I-10 corridor, DWP Public Affairs Representative Carol Tucker said the highway already is “built out to capacity.”
DWP Commission President H. David Nahai also suggested as much, but noted, “Whatever the route will be, it is our intention to follow the path of minimum impact.”
When asked what he thought should be minimally impacted, the commissioner answered that everything from the environment to project costs would be involved in the final analysis.
He also agreed with the suggestion that costs for right-of-way along the I-10 might be considerably greater than costs for the Hi-Desert route, although he could not verify this as a fact.
Looking at a map of the project area and its many alternatives, it’s clear that Hi-Desert routes maximize use of Bureau of Land Management lands, whereas the low desert alternatives must cross many more miles of private and Indian reservation lands.
The BLM does charge rental fees for right-of-way passage over its lands per the Reasonable Right-Of-Way Fees Act Of 2001. These, however, are subject to a number of “adjustment” considerations, especially for energy and communication transmission uses. The strong suspicion of project opponents is that the rental fees for the BLM right-of-way will be significantly lower than purchase costs for right-of-way on private land.
Local and regional groups already have declared their opposition, The Wildlands Conservancy among them. Pipes Canyon Preserve Manager April Sall has stated her organization’s protest in a letter to Villaraigosa, and appeared last week on the National Public Radio program “Which Way L.A.” with Green Path proponents Nahai and Greg Fishman of California Iso, which operates most of California’s high-voltage wholesale power grid.
Sall sees two potential encroachments directly onto Wildlands Conservancy property. She worries even more that such a massively engineered facility near the preserve will have powerful impacts on wildlife movement and wildlife and plant migration patterns, not to mention that the construction and maintenance road built along with the powerline will provide motor-vehicle access to areas currently protected by the lack of such access.
“Bringing ever more supplies over miles of undeveloped lands into urban areas to meet ever increasing needs is not the only method for meeting energy conservation goals,” Sall insisted. “What about reducing need? Minimizing waste? Locally generating and distributing power?”
Mostly, Sall objects to using public lands for urban purposes, particularly when the motive is strictly monetary. “We hold open lands in the public trust for important reasons,” she said, “and to auction those lands to any special interest bidder without the public consent is a betrayal of the public trust.”
In addition to geothermal and solar, the Green Path will be carrying a reported 400 megawatts of nuclear power from Arizona.
In response to new state laws calling for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and increased energy conservation measures statewide, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005 declared that 20 percent of the city’s power would be generated by alternative sources by 2010. A significant part of the mayor’s plan includes using geothermal and solar sources located near the Salton Sea.
Transmission of this energy over land will require a high-tension power line, and several of the tentative alternatives hook through the Hi-Desert. All of these alternatives share a common trunk that will run from the Coachella Valley up through Big Morongo Canyon Preserve before crossing Twentynine Palms Highway just east of Little Morongo Canyon and climbing from there into the hills.
Somewhere in the Sawtooth Mountains, one alternative branches off and runs east across Pioneertown Road to Old Woman Springs Road where it crosses in the vicinity of Flamingo Heights, and then proceeds north and then west through Johnson Valley and the Johnson Valley ORV Area to Hesperia.
Another alternative runs straight through Pioneertown and carries the name “Green Path North.” Recently identified in an L.A. Department of Water and Power e-mail as the “preferred alignment for Green Path North,” the route appears on a map to follow between the base of the hills and the residential streets west of Pioneertown Road. From here it continues north past the Bighorn Mountain Wilderness areas and wraps around west to Hesperia.
Partners in this venture are the City of Los Angeles, the Imperial Irrigation District — where geothermal energy is being produced and where production of solar energy is proposed — the Boston, Mass.-based Citizens Energy Corporation and the lead agency, the L.A. Department of Water and Power.
In a Nov. 16, 2005, press release from Villaraigosa’s office, the mayor praised the project as a step forward in the city’s efforts to shift away from fossil fuel use. The release went on to state, “The project will benefit residents and businesses in Los Angeles, Imperial, San Diego and Riverside counties.”
“So why do San Bernardino County residents and businesses have to suffer the blight of this transmission line?” is what many in the Morongo Basin are asking in many different ways.
An answer to this question will have to come from the Department of Water and Power and so far, the utility maintains that analysis hasn’t been completed on all potential corridors and, therefore, there is no argument why any particular corridor should be better than another.
When asked in a telephone interview why the Hi-Desert is even on the table as an alternative, considering the shortest route to L.A. from the Salton Sea would be along the I-10 corridor, DWP Public Affairs Representative Carol Tucker said the highway already is “built out to capacity.”
DWP Commission President H. David Nahai also suggested as much, but noted, “Whatever the route will be, it is our intention to follow the path of minimum impact.”
When asked what he thought should be minimally impacted, the commissioner answered that everything from the environment to project costs would be involved in the final analysis.
He also agreed with the suggestion that costs for right-of-way along the I-10 might be considerably greater than costs for the Hi-Desert route, although he could not verify this as a fact.
Looking at a map of the project area and its many alternatives, it’s clear that Hi-Desert routes maximize use of Bureau of Land Management lands, whereas the low desert alternatives must cross many more miles of private and Indian reservation lands.
The BLM does charge rental fees for right-of-way passage over its lands per the Reasonable Right-Of-Way Fees Act Of 2001. These, however, are subject to a number of “adjustment” considerations, especially for energy and communication transmission uses. The strong suspicion of project opponents is that the rental fees for the BLM right-of-way will be significantly lower than purchase costs for right-of-way on private land.
Local and regional groups already have declared their opposition, The Wildlands Conservancy among them. Pipes Canyon Preserve Manager April Sall has stated her organization’s protest in a letter to Villaraigosa, and appeared last week on the National Public Radio program “Which Way L.A.” with Green Path proponents Nahai and Greg Fishman of California Iso, which operates most of California’s high-voltage wholesale power grid.
Sall sees two potential encroachments directly onto Wildlands Conservancy property. She worries even more that such a massively engineered facility near the preserve will have powerful impacts on wildlife movement and wildlife and plant migration patterns, not to mention that the construction and maintenance road built along with the powerline will provide motor-vehicle access to areas currently protected by the lack of such access.
“Bringing ever more supplies over miles of undeveloped lands into urban areas to meet ever increasing needs is not the only method for meeting energy conservation goals,” Sall insisted. “What about reducing need? Minimizing waste? Locally generating and distributing power?”
Mostly, Sall objects to using public lands for urban purposes, particularly when the motive is strictly monetary. “We hold open lands in the public trust for important reasons,” she said, “and to auction those lands to any special interest bidder without the public consent is a betrayal of the public trust.”
In addition to geothermal and solar, the Green Path will be carrying a reported 400 megawatts of nuclear power from Arizona.
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mandybug wrote on Feb 9, 2009 1:00 PM:
" Sylvia was a very loved friend of mine. I was so blessed to know her in the little amount of time she had. I spent a lot of days at her home with her, and she spent many nights sleeping over at my house. I love looking through my pictures of her. She will forever be missed... "
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simplybohemian wrote on Jan 26, 2009 10:09 AM:
Shalow was heavily involved.
I hope Her family will find the peace they deserve. "