December 6, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –Nearly 3,000 customers are without power this morning in Dulzura, Potrero, Campo, Jamacha, Jamul, Indian Springs, La Presa, Spring Valley, Rancho San Diego, Barrett Lake, and Lyons Valley. According to San Diego Gas & Electric Company, the power outage is due to a suspected problem in the overhead electrical system. 

Power went out at 8:42 a.m. and restoration is expected by 9:44 this morning on two circuits affected. There are additional outages, however, in Bonita and Pala with separate causes and later restoration times projected.

New nesting pair found near McCain Valley, an ECM reader reports

By Miriam Raftery

December 4, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has been granted a variance to continue flights within 4,000 feet of golden eagle nests through December 7 and, in the event of exceptional unforeseen circumstances, as late as December 15 for completion of Sunrise Powerlink work.

Lakeside residents mourn loss of pristine views as towers dominate face of mountain listed as county scenic view corridor. 

By Billy Ortiz and Miriam Raftery

December 2, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – December 1st marked the start of breeding season for Golden Eagles in San Diego’s East County. For SDG&E, that means the Sempra-owned utility company must provide a 4,000 foot no-fly buffer zone around Golden Eagle nesting sites.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that SDG&E has applied to federal and state regulators for a variance to extend flights by several days around eagle nests. But as of yesterday, flights near nesting sites remained halted or rerouted.

November  14, 2011 (San Diego) -- The holidays are right around the corner and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) wants to help San Diegans become more energy efficient this holiday season.  For the sixth year, SDG&E will be offering complimentary light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) to customers throughout San Diego County during the company’s annual LED Holiday Lighting Exchanges.

By Miriam Raftery
 

November 6, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – On Friday, the County Department of Planning and Land Use announced a new amendment to noise variances granted to SDG&E for Sunrise Powerlink construction.

Due to residents' complaints, the County has banned Sunday flights over  the Carveacre area, according to LeAnn Carmichael at DPLU. The County is also considering requests from other communities seeking broader bans on Sunday flights in the Alpine and Lakeside areas.

November 4, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- Yesterday, ECM reported that some rural residents were left without power during a red flag alert, after receiving warnings from SDG&E that the utility might shut down power due to high fire-risk conditions.

Today, however, SDG&E has denied that power shut-offs impacting an esteimated 5,200 customers was intentional.

“SDG&E exemplifies the hypocritical worst of the One Percent: higher profits, higher rates and disregard for lives.” – Kim Hamilton, Deerhorn Valley Antler editor

By Miriam Raftery

November 3, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Rural East County residents are voicing concerns over a power-shut down yesterday while a 600-acre wildfire in Mexico threatened to jump the border. The night before, some residents received a warning from SDG&E that the utility intended to shut off power due to a red flag alert signaling severe fire danger.

November 2, 2011 (McCain Valley) - The County has authorized SDG&E and the Daley Corporation to perform asphalt repairs on McCain Valley Road on Friday, November 4 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

November 1, 2011 (Ramona) – A suspected problem in overhead electrical lines is believed to be the cause behind a power outage that has impacted 653 customers in east Ramona, Barona, and the Iron Mountain area.

Alpine residents lodge new complaints; Lakeside residents plan community meeting Wed. Nov. 2 over noise concerns

By Miriam Raftery

November 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Last week, the County revoked a variance granted to SDG&E for helicopter work along Sunrise Powerlink on Sundays in areas where residents had complained. So on Sunday, October 30, residents were looking forward to some much-anticipated peace and quiet –only to find the silence broken once again by the loud roar of helicopters.
 

At least some of the flights appear to be violating the County’s ban on Sunday flights, according to LeAnn Carmichael with the County Department of Planning and Land Use.

Story and photos by Russ Lindquist

“…SDG&E told [residents]that a small gas leak had been going on for a month or more.” Chief Andy Menshek, San Miguel Fire Department

October 29, 2011 (Mount Helix)--Safety officials evacuated two homes and ordered six others "sheltered in place" with windows and doors closed on Pandora drive on Mount Helix in La Mesa yesterday beginning at approximately 9:15 a.m. The evacuation and sheltering lasted about two hours, according to Chief Andy Menshek of the San Miguel Fire Department (SMFD) who was the "incident commander" of the event.

The Chief said that the operator of a front-end excavator had broken a gas line, a pipe approximately three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The operator works for a private contractor for San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E).

Community meetings planned in Boulevard, Lakeside and Alpine

By Miriam Raftery

October 22, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –After receiving 23 complaints about Sunday helicopter operations on Sunrise Powerlink construction, the County has amended its variance. The original variance allowed work Sundays through November, as well as on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The amendment covers portions of two areas: Lakeside/El Monte and the Bell Bluff/Japatul area of Alpine.

ECM Special Report
 

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Pam Wilmers, Video by Billy Ortiz

Updated October 21, 2011

 October 20, 2011 (Lakeside) – Construction of an access road needed for completion of the Sunrise Powerlink in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley has been halted due to discovery of a “possible Indian site” found during road-grading activities, a property owner informed ECM yesterday.

October 19, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Residents along the construction route for SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink Project have lodged noise complaints with the County. Now Supervisor Dianne Jacob has asked that the County revoke a waiver given that authorized SDG&E to fly on Sundays and a holiday weekend. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also granted permission for the extended hours on federal BLM lands.

“It sounds like the Vietnam War zone out here,” bemoaned Lakeside resident Milt Cyphert, a veteran.

Editor's Note:  ECM received many complaints from readers in  Alpine and Lakeside who are irate over Sunday helicopter flights for Sunrise Powerlink construction and say they were not informed. SDG&E says flights were authorized by the County for Sundays through November as well as on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Alpine Planning  Group member Lou Russo and others have asked the County to revoke permission.

By Tom and Judy Myers

October 17, 2011 (Alpine)--Sunday should be a day of relaxation, a chance to regenerate our spirit and our psyche. Now more than ever, Alpiners need this. We have had our nerves jangled since the beginning of the year with all the construction banging and clanging in our once quiet and peaceful mountain town.

“I urge the Commission to treat SDG&E’s proposal the same way SDG&E has treated East County in recent years: Ignore it. Reject it. Trash it.” – Supervisor Dianne Jacob

By Miriam Raftery
 

October 13, 2011 (El Cajon)—East County residents didn’t mince words in voicing nearly unanimous opposition to a 17% rate hike proposed by SDG&E over the next three years. At a hearing held by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) at El Cajon’s City Council Chamber last night, dozens of residents urged administrative law judge John Wong to recommend that the CPUC deny SDG&E’s proposed $1.5 billion hike--or take advice of two watchdog groups that recommendeda rate decrease after their audits found SG&E inflated its costs.
 

Supervisor Dianne Jacob, speaking first, got a rousing ovation from the crowd. She voiced outrage over the rate hike and accused SDG&E of poor fiscal policy, a pattern of deception, and exorbitant bonuses paid to executives after the company was found responsible for wildfires that scorched our region.  View Supervisor Jacob's letter to the CPUC.  

Ruling today on smart meter opt-out for SDG&E customers sparks added interest among local ratepayers

By Miriam Raftery

October 11, 2011 (El Cajon) – SDG&E wants to hike utility rates by over 17% in the next four years.  Tomorrow, East County residents will have a chance to voice their views on the proposal at two hearings held by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The public meetings will be held at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m. at the El Cajon City Council Chambers, 200 East Main Street in El Cajon. 

An East County Magazine poll of readers has found that thus far, 93% of the 275 who voted think the CPUC should deny SDG&E's rate hike request.  TAKE OUR POLL: Should the CPUC approve SDG&E's rate hike?

The rate hike is opposed by the CPUC’s own Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), which conducted an audit that found SDG&E inflated its costs. The DRA recommended that SDG&E lower—not raise—its rates.   

By Miriam Raftery

October 9, 2011 (Ocotillo) – ECM has received photos and an e-mail from Jim Pelley, a motorcyclist who reports finding metal cables strung two feet off the ground across roadways in Ocotillo frequented by off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

The cables were attached to an SDG&E helicopter “pulling cables from tower to tower,” Pelley reports.”This is a serious situation and I am worried that someone will not see this cable and a serious accident will result with either the off road vehicle or the helicopter.”

By Miriam Raftery

October 4, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Arocles Aguilar, Assistant General Counsel at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today sent a letter to Patrick T. Lee, vice president in charge of the Sunrise Powerlink project for SDG&E. The letter authorizes SDG&E to resume helicopter operations on the Powerlink project immediately.

The CPUC found that SDG&E fulfilled requirements for remedial actions including a safety stand down, rigging training, necessity of helicopter operations vs. ground transportation, and incident reporting procedures.

"I have called on the CPUC to hold a public meeting in Alpine to look the community in the eye and prove that lives and property are not at risk."

By Miriam Raftery

September 27, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)—Community leaders and residents in East County praised the California Public Utilities Commission for its decision yesterday to ground all helicopter activity on SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink due to serious safety incidents.

By Miriam Raftery

 
September 27, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – The California Public Utilities Commission has issued an immediate stop work order for helicopter activities on SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink due to repeated safety violations and unreported serious incidents.  The letter cites increasing frequency of pilot errors, mechanical and rigging failures.

September 26, 2011 (San Diego) – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) president Michael Peevey has issued a ruling ordering San Diego Gas & Electric Company and two other utility companies to allow consumers who don’t want a “smart meter” installed to place their names on a delay list, pending the outcome of upcoming workshops on the issue.

The order applies only to homes that do not yet have a smart meter, and does not provide an option for people who want to have a smart meter removed.

September 23, 2011 (Alpine) –On the site of a run-down ex-chicken farm in Alpine, Sol Orchard wants to harvest sunshine.

Representatives from Sol Orchard seek a major use permit to build an 18-acre solar energy farm on High Glen Road, about four miles southeast of the Tavern Road and Japatul Valley Road intersection. Capable of producing 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power, the project is all part of a new San Diego Gas & Electric initiative to build small-scale solar facilities that together would generate up to 200 MW power locally.

ACPG meeting Thursday includes Powerlink issues as well as proposals for a solar farm, a hotel, zoning changes, and a new park for Alpine

By Miriam Raftery

September 21, 2011 (Alpine) – An already hot agenda for tomorrow night’s Alpine Community Planning Group meeting (set for 6 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center) just got hotter.

On September 19, Aspen, environmental consultant to the California Public Utilities Commission on the Sunrise Powerlink project, released a report on construction and compliance activites for the high-voltage power line.  The report reveals over 30 cases of non-compliance and serious incidents including fires, diesel spills, accidents, ignoring monitoring requirements, and heavy objects falling from helicopters--again. 

September 21, 2011 (Pine Valley) -  A power outage has left some Pine Valley residents without power, SDG&E's outage map indicates. According to Incident Page Network, power is expected to be restored by approximately 12 noon.

“SDG&E has asked ratepayers to overpay for service, including funding long-term stock options and incentive programs in excess of what is reasonable,” Joe Como, acting director, Division of Ratepayer Advocates at the California Public Utilities Commission

September 21, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Consumers opening their bills in a month that saw the worst power outage in California history got another unpleasant surprise: a notice that San Diego Gas & Electric Company seeks a rate increase of $1.5 billion over the next four years.

The California Utilities Commission has scheduled several meetings in San Diego County on the proposed rate hike between October 10 and 13, including two hearings Oct. 12 in East County (El Cajon). Public Participation Hearings will be held at 2.p.m. and 7 p.m. at each of the following locations:

East County Magazine News Service

September 20, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – A worker on the Sunrise Powerlink suffered injury yesterday and was flown by private helicopter to an ambulance, where he was transported to a hospital, Incident Page Network reported.

Par Electrical Contractors, a subcontractor for SDG&E, confirms that an injury occurred in rural East County but said the worker was not seriously hurt.

September 15, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –The California Public Utilities Commission is now directing the public to send complaints about Sunrise Powerlink to a private consulting group, meaning complaint records would presumably not be disclosable to the media or to the public.

Sharmin Self on the Alpine Community Planning Group suggests that anyone who files a complaint/inquiry with Aspen, the consulting firm to the CPUC, also send her a copy, so that it will be a public record (unlike complaints to SDG&E or the CPUC consultant contacts, which are private and not disclosable).

A key question is who, if anyone, bears responsibility for financial losses resulting from the outage

September 11, 2011 (San Diego) –The California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO), which operates California’s grid has initiated a joint task force to investigate the widespread blackout that left more than a million Southern Californians and five million users in the southwest and Mexico without power for up to 12 hours.

In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) announced a joint inquiry in cooperation with the ISO, WECC, all utilities impacted and state regulators in California and Arizona. WECC has also announced its own Event Analysis that will be conducted with participation from the California ISO.