Geothermal Testing Approved East of Salton Sea

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved geothermal testing east of the Salton Sea.

This approval does not allow a geothermal plant to be built. Should Western Geothermal Partners LLC decide after testing it wants to build, it will have to apply again to the Bureau of Land Management. An environmental review would take place at that time.

Great News!

SAN DIEGO, Calif.– A panel of federal administrative law judges dealt a major blow to the Sunrise Powerlink power line project late Tuesday when they ruled that local opponents had standing to challenge the project and rejected SDG&E’s claim that their appeal was untimely. They also ruled that SDG&E would have to comply with a new timetable delaying construction on the project until at least June 2010.

The ruling comes in response to an administrative appeal filed by powerlink opponents against a decision by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approving the project last January. The ruling is intended to allow for resolution of the appeal prior to project construction.

To read the complete press release click here: PRESS RELEASE

SDG&E is making their own descions without approval.

Once again sdg&e is ignoring the CPUC decision and trying to sneak things in the SWPL that do not need to be there and are not expressly permitted (read the letter linked to below).

Letter to CPUC from Harvey Payne Lawyer for Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens

Update on the continuing fight for the back country.

Below is a note from David Hogan who is well informed and up to date on the proceedings with sdg&e,
The map link at the end is worth looking at if you think our fight with protecting the back country is finished, this is another battle that is looming:

San Diego North County communities aren't out of the powerlink hot seat by any stretch of the imagination. Remember our conclusions up north about how the powerlink was a 500kV “freeway” from the Imperial Valley to the middle of nowhere in Warner Springs (East Central Substation), that the two 230kV lines from there to San Diego were just off-ramps, leaving us with the question of "where's the freeway going?" (and the inevitable answer of "the way it's pointed of course... greater Los Angeles). Northern folks should take note that the same can be said for the southern route -
The approved "Environmentally Superior Southern Route" would be 500kV from the Imperial Valley to a remote substation in another middle of nowhere near the Japatul Valley east of Alpine, then convert to 230kV from there to Poway.

As with the northern route there's little doubt that SDG&E plans to extend that energy freeway somewhere and the EIR/EIS is clear that a likely “somewhere” is due north along the Route D Alternative - From Descanso then west of Cuyamaca Peak through remote roadless areas and on to Santa Ysabel and Mesa Grande to SDG&E's old proposed substation near Warner Springs. From there the EIR/EIS shows a route running west along the Highway 76 corridor through the La Jolla Indian Reservation then north to Riverside.

So north or south, we're all still in this together.

Map of Expansion from San Felipe to Riverside (you can right click and save map for viewing offline)

David Hogan

Why the Sunrise Powerlink isn't needed

In the video, San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob explains why the proposed "Sunrise Powerlink" transmission line isn't needed.



This video and others are available at the East County Community Action Coalition, a new group that is educating people in east county about the proposed Powerlink.

Starting a new blog

Have moved my previous posts about life in and around rural South Dakota over to http://prairiehighway.wordpress.com/.

This blog will continue to be a site for energy issues.

Where will the "national grid" be built?

This week, the federal government published two obscure notices about something that could have a big impact on the Midwest and the West.

Federal stimulus money has been set aside for building thousands of miles of new transmission lines. Lots of private companies would like to get that money to build new projects, some that could be good (for renewable energy) and some that are not good (for fossil-fuel power such as coal but pretending to be for renewable energy).

The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is setting the rules of road for choosing those projects and also has asked companies to tell it about the projects they'd like to build.

The public has only until April 3, 2009 to tell WAPA what it thinks about those proposed rules. Only one public hearing will be held, in Colorado. (WAPA is asking for projects in its entire service territory, which stretches from California to Minnesota.)

If this interests you, let WAPA know now. Because of the need to spend stimulus money quickly, this is going to roll out fast. Communities that don't get involved early may find themselves stuck with end results they don't like.

Proposed rules and notice of public comment period

Request for projects

WAPA web page

WAPA service area

Fight against Sunrise Powerlink continues

The fight against the boondoggle transmission line project called the "Sunrise Powerlink" isn't over yet. People in Lakeside didn't know the Powerlink was coming their way and that it would put them at serious risk from fire. They are joining the fight, which is moving to the courts. Here's a video of their meeting last week.

Transmission line planning? No, more like railroading

Carl Pope of the Sierra Club has a new piece on Huffington Post about the need for citizens to get involved in transmission line siting, to make sure things get done right. An excerpt:

[I]n Southern California it's proving very difficult for Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to find a way to share the obvious transmission right-of-way for solar power from the California desert -- Interstate 10, which already has Edison transmission on its median strip. And because the Bureau of Land Management sets its royalty rates below those of the prevailing private market, solar and wind entrepreneurs have a perverse incentive to locate their facilities in the most pristine natural settings instead of in already developed (but often privately owned) locations.

The popular metaphor of the day is that we need an energy-delivery equivalent to the Interstate Highway System. Unfortunately, the current reality is that energy transmission is being handled in a way that's more akin to the railroad rush of the 19th century.

There's gonna be a fight

There's a big battle brewing. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada plans to introduce legislation to give the federal government more authority over transmission line siting, which means taking power from the states. The feds already have authority to step in if the process doesn't meet a certain timetable, but this would apparently give them more.

The bit about creating renewable energy zones sounds like what California has been trying to do with the controversial RETI process.

What about the Sunrise Powerlink?

If you've come to this blog to learn about the "Sunrise Powerlink," please be aware that I'm no longer regularly writing about that subject. Instead, I recommend that you visit these two sites that continue to have new "Sunrise Powerlink" content:

Desertblog
San Diego Smart Energy Solutions

You can also find a lot of older Powerlink background info. on this blog by looking in the archives, using the links on the right, searching the site, or pulling up posts with the "Sunrise Powerlink" label (which does not index back to the beginning of the site).

For a long time, I've resisted posting about subjects other than the Powerlink because I knew many readers were still coming here for Powerlink info. I haven't lived in California for over two years, however, and there's a lot happening here in the Great Plains that needs to be discussed too, especially in the realm of sustainability.

Good luck to all the "Sunrise Powerlink" opponents! In these difficult economic times, you are protecting the family finances of California consumers who would have to pay for this boondoggle project. Too bad the California Public Utilities Commission didn't honor its legal obligation to do the same.

Capturing another kind of energy

Today I take my first baby steps into another way of capturing the sun's energy -- planting a large organic garden. Seed orders are going in today.

Is "clean coal" real?

Little Time Left for Landowners to Comment on Keystone XL Pipeline

Update (11/29/08): You can read more about this issue in the Great Falls Tribune. The State Department's response is reported here.

Original post (news release): Time is running out for landowners to participate in a key phase of the permit process for a proposed new pipeline that could result in eminent domain proceedings against them. Unless the U.S. State Department grants an extension, December 4 is the deadline for public comment on TransCanada’s application for the Presidential Permit required to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which would move tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast.

Dakota Resource Council, Dakota Rural Action, Northern Plains Resource Council, Plains Justice, and Western Organization of Resource Councils have asked the U.S. State Department to re-publish notice of the Presidential Permit application and to begin a new, 90-day comment period so that farmers, ranchers, and other landowners will have a reasonable amount of time to comment.

“Landowners really need this extension. The comment period is more than half over and the application isn’t even available online,” said Lyle Quick, a member of Northern Plains Resource Council and a McCone County rancher. “To see the application, you have to contact the State Department and ask them to mail a CD to you. And that’s if you even know we’re in a comment period.”

Quick said that last week he caught surveyors trespassing on his sister’s, Lyla Green’s, place. “They said they were surveying (a two-track farm trail) claiming it might one day be a road across her property used to haul pipe to the construction site," Quick said.

Notice that the permit application had been filed and the 30-day public comment period had begun was published in the Federal Register on Election Day, when the public was occupied with voting and following election results. Because the notice was written unclearly, even members of the public who saw the notice may not know that they are permitted to comment. For example, in the Federal Notice, the Department of State says it is “circulating this application to concerned federal agencies for comment.” The notice did not state that the department is circulating the application for public comment.

“This is a major project consisting of a 36-inch buried pipe transporting a proposed 750,000 barrels of tar sands oil every day. The process should not be started with an attempt to squeeze this application in at the last minute under the current administration,” said David Neimi, a member of Dakota Rural Action who is a South Dakota landowner potentially impacted by the project.

The Presidential Permit is required for the Keystone XL pipeline to cross the Canadian-U.S. border and starts an important permitting process which includes an Environmental Impact Statement for the entire proposed 1,375-mile length of the project. This Presidential Permit process is important for landowners to participate in so that they are not shut out of future chances to comment on the EIS for the proposed pipeline.

The Keystone XL pipeline would be TransCanada’s second pipeline for carrying tar sands crude to the U.S. Keystone XL would enter the U.S. at Port Morgan, Montana. After passing through Montana, the pipeline would travel through South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Letters requesting a new notice and 90 day comment period can be sent to: J. Brian
Duggan, Room 4843, Office of International Energy and Commodity Policy,
Department of State, Washington, DC 20520 or e-mailed to him at: DugganJB@state.gov.

The request for extension sent by the five groups is available at http://www.worc.org/ and http://plainsjustice.org/.

Maps of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route are available on the TransCanada website: http://www.transcanada.com/keystone/kxl.html




Photo: After the harvest in northern Nebraska

Doctors and Nurses Urge IA DNR to Protect Iowans from Coal Plant Air Pollution

Update (11/29/08): Click on the link to see good news coverage of this story--you'll learn more if you watch the featured video instead of just reading the news transcript.

Original post (news release): Today two non-profit groups representing Iowa doctors and nurses urged the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to take stronger steps to protect public health from fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a hazardous air pollutant found in soot from coal-fired power plants.

A letter was sent to the DNR on behalf of the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Iowa Nurses’ Association, explaining that the agency’s current requirements for coal power-plant applicants not only are insufficient to protect the public from fine particulate air pollution, but also do not comply with the Clean Air Act. The letter asks the DNR to apply these legally required stronger standards before issuing draft air permits for the proposed Interstate Power & Light (IP&L) coal power plant in Marshalltown and proposed LS Power coal power plant in Waterloo.

“The science continues to unfold about the harmfulness of fine particle pollution,” said Dr. Maureen McCue of the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “We already know that PM2.5 air pollution poses great risks to our most vulnerable citizens—children, the elderly, and people with heart or lung disease. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, fine particle pollution causes thousands of premature deaths a year and coughing, wheezing, and decreased lung function even in otherwise healthy children and adults,” she added.

“Before two new coal-fired power plants are allowed to add more fine particle pollution to the air Iowans breathe, it’s critical that the Iowa DNR do more to control PM2.5 than it’s doing now,” said Pat Hemphill Fuller, speaking on behalf of the Iowa Nurses’ Association.

The DNR is expected to issue the draft air permit for the IP&L coal plant next month. The draft air permit for the LS Power coal plant is expected some time in 2009.

More information about the hazards of fine particulate matter air pollution is available at websites of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the American Lung Society.

You can read the letter here. In addition to the doctors’ and nurses’ groups, the letter was also sent on behalf of Plains Justice and the grass-roots group Community Energy Solutions.