By PETER DAY
Editor
The proposed Coolwater-Lugo Transmission Project located southeast of Apple Valley “is a behemoth” that will enable numerous industrial-scale wind and solar projects to be built.
That’s what a speaker at last week’s meeting of the Lucerne Valley Economic Development Association said.
“This thing is a behemoth,” said George Stone, a Milpas Highlands resident who would be impacted if the Desert View Substation is constructed. “It will eventually look like a spider web.”
Moreover, Stone suggested, the proposed 160-acre substation project would prompt a symbiotic relationship that would fuel a host of solar and wind project applicants, such as the proposed North Peak Wind.
“You can’t generate power without a substation,” Stone said. “The substation needs those projects to be feasible financially. If the substation gets built, they (solar and wind projects) will be built.”
According to Stone, Southern California Edison is pushing for the Coolwater-Lugo Transmission Project because of the loss of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which was taken off-line in 2012.
Stone also commended LVEDA and involved residents and groups seeking to inform the public on the effects of the Coolwater-Lugo project.
“You guys are very organized,” Stone said. “You speak your mind. “There’s a group of us just east of you that feels the same way.”
Lorrie Steely, who last month organized a highly-successful information rally at Pioneer Park on Coolwater-Lugo, North Peak Wind and other local proposed projects, said her group collected more than 500 signatures protesting the project.
The next step, she said, is “to take a little bit of a deep breath” and then reach out to stakeholders.
Steely seeks involvement from a wide spectrum of High Desert residents.
“We all like this area for different reasons,” she said. “We should be able to have a voice to say,’This isn’t right.’”
An SCE representative was invited to speak at the meeting but was unable to attend, according to LVEDA President Chuck Bell.
Another speaker invited by Steely to speak on the top was Wayne Stevens, managing director of Critical Path Transmission, which has offered an alternative of Coolwater-Lugo. The AV Clearview Transmission Line project offers many advantages including the ability to get started sooner.
Stevens suggested LVEDA focus on the California Public Utilities Commission, which ultimately will decide on a transmission line project.
“I’m very ooptimistic that we can prevail at the PUC,” Stevens said. “I would encourage people who are interested in this project to get on the PUC email list.... We’d be happy to work with any organiztions or citizens out here to defeat Edison.”
Bell responded, “We’d certainly like to help you get what you want.”