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February 14, 2008

Ontario Chamber Joins Clean and Reliable Energy Coalition, Supports Sunrise Powerlink Project
 

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce supports the proposed Sunrise Powerlink that will help ensure reliable electric service. The Sunrise Powerlink will have enough capacity to power more than 650,000 homes and businesses in San Diego County and southern Orange County (San Diego Gas & Electric’s service territory). As a vital new link to the state’s power grid, the Sunrise Powerlink will help ensure Southern California homes and businesses have the energy they need when they need it most.
 

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California’s 36 million residents receive their power via a network of interconnected transmission lines that work together to provide reliable electric service to homes and businesses throughout California. A disruption or breakdown of major transmission lines can compromise the entire system and put consumers across the state at risk for blackouts and energy shortages.

The landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32) positioned California as a world leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the state’s primary tools for meeting its energy goals is the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires all investor-owned utilities to generate at least 20 percent of their total electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010.

According to the California Energy Commission, tapping renewable resources in California’s Imperial Valley would help the state meet its energy goals. Industry experts, however, cite California’s lack of adequate transmission as an impediment to unlocking the renewable generation potential for solar, geothermal and wind energy in this region.

California’s transmission shortage affects our ability to access clean energy from regions such as the desert southwest where solar resources are abundant. The Sunrise Powerlink would expand access to new supplies of clean solar, wind and geothermal energy in the Imperial Valley that are waiting to be tapped and help California move towards a greener energy future.

This new transmission line will have the capacity to deliver 1,000 megawatts of renewable power to homes and businesses throughout the San Diego region and southern Orange County (San Diego Gas & Electric’s service territory). This clean power would eliminate tons of greenhouse gases that would be emitted if this same amount of energy was generated by conventional power plants.