Inland area prime spot for renewable energy, says state utilities commissioner
Inland Southern California is prime real estate for developing renewable energy, a member of the state’s Public Utilities Commission told the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce on Friday.
“You have the sun, you have the wind, you have the primary resources that we can advance,” Timothy Simon said at the Riverside Convention Center. “We also have challenges in terms of transmission.”
Simon admitted he has mixed feelings about how to take advantage of the alternative-energy options available in the region. The subject already has sparked tremendous controversy across the Inland area, where Los Angeles utility officials have talked about running transmission lines for an ambitious renewable energy proposal.
That proposal, known as Green Path North, would draw geothermal energy from the heat generated below the earth’s surface at the Salton Sea. The electrical power that’s generated would be transmitted to a proposed substation in Victorville, where it would join existing transmission lines heading to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also is seeking energy from solar and wind sources.
Riverside and San Bernardino County supervisors have passed resolutions saying they are against transmission routes that would go through environmentally sensitive lands. Environmentalists have spoken out against it because of possible damage to the Morongo Valley and some desert preserves west of Joshua Tree National Park. The utility at one point said an estimated 3,500 homes would be condemned because of the project.
Residents from Desert Hot Springs to Oak Glen have spoken out against the proposal, vowing to fight attempts to cut up their communities.
Simon seemed to decry those complaints in his speech.
“The NIMBYism has to stop,” he said, referring to the Not In My Backyard acronym. “We’re not going to achieve our renewable goals if we’re being fought every step of the way on what we need to improve the infrastructure in California.”
Simon is one of five members on the California Public Utilities Commission. He was the keynote speaker at the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce’s legislative summit. He followed speeches by Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga; Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes; and Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore.
By Michelle DeArmond
3 October 2008
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