Los Angeles Utility Spreads Misinformation
About Its Green Path North Transmission Project
On December 20, in an open letter to desert communities about the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power's (LADWP's) Green Path North transmission line project, LADWP and its partners provided false and misleading information about the proposed project.
The full-page open letter, published in the Hi-Desert Star, asserted that numerous false claims have been made about the project. Some of the claims derided in the letter are claims made by the California Desert Coalition, and therefore, CDC would like to set the record straight about the
veracity of its claims and also shed light on the actual false and misleading information contained in the open letter advertisement.LADWP asserts that its transmission project would not require designating a new energy corridor where no energy corridor currently exists. The fact is, the proposed GPN transmission line route through the high desert cannot be approved by the Bureau of Land Management without designating the route an energy corridor. This is a requirement of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan. A BLM spokesperson has confirmed that this requirement applies to the Green Path North route. The CDCA Plan currently identifies a 2- to 5-mile-wide "contingent corridor" along the GPN route. Contingent corridors become designated by amending the CDCA Plan. CDC is fighting ardently to ensure this is not the future for our conservation lands, such as the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve (BMCP), our scenic vistas that provide the framework for Joshua Tree National Park, and our rural desert communities. (NOTE: The "contingent corridor" referred to is a relic of early 1980s planning, before much of BMCP was recognized as an area of critical environmental concern and before another private preserve along the route was established.)
LADWP, the Southern California Public Power Authority, and the other letter signatories say they are committed to selecting and designing a path that will have the least impact on local residents and the environment. However, Southern California Edison (SCE) recently announced that LADWP has flatly rejected SCE's offer of capacity on its power lines along the I-10 energy corridor. LADWP has clearly not listened to the voices of local residents or their county supervisors, who have implored the agency to use this already existing energy corridor for GPN transmission.
In rejecting SCE's offer, LADWP has exhibited the same arrogance, disregard for its ratepayers, and failure to participate in California state transmission planning recognized by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in its report to the California Energy Commission. This
report states, "The ISO's efforts with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) were also extensive and frustrating. The Department has a lot to gain from being part of the larger State grid as a way to minimize the need for new transmission, increase their access to renewable generation at lower cost to their ratepayers, and reduce their C02 footprint."
In its statements about undergrounding sections of the GPN line, LADWP ignores the evidence, confirmed by an SCE undergrounding specialist, that undergrounding power lines is even more environmentally destructive than overhead transmission. Thus LADWP has not addressed a key objection to the power line route: the project's immediate and long-term detrimental impacts on environmentally sensitive lands. Both San Bernardino and Riverside County supervisors have stated in their resolutions opposing GPN that these adverse impacts can be avoided by LADWP using available existing energy corridors.
While property owners may individually assume LADWP's claim to consider undergrounding sections of the line means their section of the line, when you consider that GPN would cross 30 miles of private land, it becomes apparent that this is a false hope. Add to this miles of viewshed on public lands and the vistas along desert highways that tourists so admire, and it becomes clear that a limited amount of undergrounding could have little effect on the overall impact of GPN.
At LADWP's July public meeting in Yucca Valley, David Nahai claimed that his agency is not "diabolically plotting" to destroy desert lands and communities. When the agency uses its deep pockets and advertising budget to spread fallacies and misinformation about the Green Path North Project, CDC asks, where is the dialogue and transparency that was promised to desert residents?
MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: At California Desert Coalition and on the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts on this blog: Energy, Green Path North.
