Power plant hearing draws support and concerns

Members of the California Energy Commission held a public informational meeting Monday night at the Bob Burton Center in order to collect public comment on an 85 million dollar, 96-megawatt (MW) (MW) power plant that has been proposed by Orange Grove Energy L.P. (OGE), 3.5 miles east of I-15 on SR-76 and two miles west of Pala.

The hearing was in response to an application filed by OGE for a Small Power Plant Exemption that would minimize the environmental impact analysis for the power project, and minimize the permitting time required for the project so it could start construction in January of next year.

OGE would lease a site on a parcel owned by SDG&E, construct the power plant next to the Pala substation, and turn over ownership to SDG&E after 25 years.

Representatives of Orange Grove Energy L.P. (OGE) were on hand to give a presentation of the plant, which is being proposed as a “peaking station” providing power and voltage support to SDG&E under a 25-year contract during periods of high demand, starting in summer 2008. SDG&E determined a need for the facility to maintain grid reliability in the face of significant growth in the north county area. The facility is designed to be able to “black start” the local grid in the event of a widespread power outage.

The Small Power Plant Exemption can be granted by the CEC if the plant is 100 megawatts or less and they find that there are no substantial adverse impacts on the environment or energy resources. This exemption skips the long and expensive process of environmental impact reports that typically are done in order to build a project. OGE representatives stated several times during the presentation that there would be no adverse affects on the environment.

There were 11 people who spoke in favor of the plant and five who had concerns. There were about 3 dozen people in total who attended the hearing.

Tony Arand, a Fallbrook resident and CEO of Envirepel Energy, asked to officially be included as an “intervenor,” which makes Envirepel Energy a participant in the permitting process for the new power plant. He voiced concerns saying, “The minimal permitting that the project is requesting from the energy commission is an inappropriate way to permit that project. The air emissions alone in the sensitive habitat area of the San Luis Rey River are enough of a reason to require the project to do full environmental permitting as Envirepel Energy is doing for its renewable energy plant near the same site.”

According to Arand, the OGE project is the best conventional natural gas technology has to offer. “But in the basin of the San Luis Rey Valley, that’s not good enough. The maximum capacity of the OGE plant air emissions from the project could reach approximately 150 tons of NOx per year and approximately 120 tons of carbon monoxide into the air annually, which could easily impact the Pala Casino expansion effort, and the other projects trying to meet the stringent environmental requirements of the San Luis Rey watershed habitat. The applicant, (OGE), is claiming that they will run the brand new 85 million dollar plant for 3200 peak hours per year, which is a little more than 4 months out of the year or 36% of the year Additionally, history shows that if SDG&E needs the power into the grid, as they do on this specific circuit from Fallbrook to Pala, they will run it to meet the electrical needs of their customers. They would either ask for a waiver of the air permit restrictions to meet the “emergency” needs of the time, or pay the pollution fines incurred by violating any restrictions on the air permit. Either way, this “peaker” quietly becomes a full time “Power Plant” with all the additional environmental impacts.

Arand presented supporting documents to the Energy Commission, including Environmental Documents from projects in the surrounding areas, emissions calculations for developments within the six mile study area, GE LM6000 Estimated Performance Data Sheet (the jet engine power unit for the Orange Grove power plant facility), Data Adequacy Worksheet Comments for the six month expedited process that OGE is applying for, and letters of opposition to the Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission.

Energy Commission Facility Siting Project Manager Felicia Miller gave a presentation and in her Issues Identification Report states, “Without proper mitigation this project would contribute to existing violations of the state and federal ambient air quality standards. Without appropriate mitigation measures, staff cannot find that this project would have less than significant air quality impacts, which is inconsistent with the Small Power Plant Exemption process.”

Other potential concerns included cultural resources, archeological sites and water quality issues. The project permit cited the need for 117 acre feet of water from Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD). RMWD Director Jack Griffiths voiced concern over the 30% cutback by the Municipal Water District January 1, 2008 and clarified that while the developers were citing resources from RMWD, they had not come before the board. According to a Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) source, this could be handled by staff, and RMWD must sell them water if they have it to sell, but Griffiths cited concern over having enough water to serve existing Rainbow customers and local farmers.

As a response to the CEC presentation, Jane Luckhardt, Counsel for the applicant, said, “We understand staff’s concerns and in the area of air qualities, since there are limited offset options in the area we are looking at potential mitigation measures and are working with the Air District to develop some options and plan to present those to staff. In the area of Cultural resources, we have been out in the field, in fact today, doing additional work to respond to staff’s requests and our preliminary results do not show that there will be a problem. In the area of water, we understand the concerns of staff and those presented by the water district today and we are evaluating various alternatives and will present our results once we get more information.”

There were several socio economic benefits that were presented in a PowerPoint presentation including short-term benefits from the six month construction project and longer-term benefits of additional jobs and tax revenue. Representatives were unavailable to provide them by press time.

The residents of the area voiced support for the project based on the need for reliability on the grid, economic stability for the region, new jobs that may be provided, and the fact that it is a smaller plant. Although five people in total spoke with concerns, there seemed to be consensus that the power is badly needed.

Joe Chisholm, Chairman of the Pala Sponsor Group, said he had concerns with the high pressure gas lines, the transportation issues and he asked that “major trees and bushes be planted” to conceal the power plant from Hwy 76, which they are working to make a “scenic highway.”

The power plant includes two 80-foot exhaust stacks and proposes to truck off the site all non-sanitary waste water. Speculation after the meeting included discussion on the possibility of that same waste water having the potential to increase the environmental impact on the area by supporting the development of the Gregory Canyon Landfill project that is in need of waste water for dust control.

Linda Cooper was the first person to comment. She said, “This plant has the advantage of being right next to an existing substation and an underground transmission line. It is a well thought out plan and is state of the art and is in an area where not a lot of people can see it.” She said it was a good location and a good solution to our problems in North County.

Nick Herd was also for the plant, He said, “Good evening. The great thing about these small plants is they use clean burning fuel, in this case natural gas, and are state of the art system…It provides more power when we need it and less pollution and we should all be behind it.

Sheila Manning spoke and said, “I think we citizens need more information than the little we received today and it is important for the community to digest it. I represent Riverwatch, which is a large environmental organization to preserve San Luis Rey water valley. I’m a past director of RMWD and California Water Authority and have great concerns about the water issue. We are 100% dependent on imported water and we have received notice that our water will be curtailed by 30%.”

She then asked about a discrepancy in the report and asked about the future of the plant and if there was a possibility that it would grow into a huge plant to service all the development on the corridor and the 3000 homes.

Manning concluded by saying, “We have environmental concerns on the 76 corridor. It is one of the most environmentally sensitive corridors in the San Diego County. At this point we don’t think it’s a good project.

An Orange Grove representative politely responded, saying, “The answer to the expansion question is ‘no’. We cannot do that unilaterally. We lease this land from SDG&E. There is no plan to expand beyond what it does right now.”

Jackie McFarland said, “Sometimes a project like this disturbs the natural habitat when it’s in its original state, but this one is on an existing orange grove and I think…this is the best site and we need the electricity.”

According to the CEC, if the exemption is approved, OGE will apply for the appropriate permits from the local, state and federal agencies. This would include a major use permit, building permits and Air Pollution Control District permits.