Residents Protest SDG&E Upgrade

Ten San Juan Capistrano residents took to the streets in protest of San Diego Gas & Electric’s plans to upgrade the power lines and a substation in town.

The utility held its last open house before it submits plans to the California Public Utilities Commission next week to spend $450 million .  

The proposal is to build in redundancy to the power grid to prevent outages, SDG&E officials have said.

Last week, utility officials held with members of the public focused on the appearance of the building that will replace a 1918 structure now on the property.

But the protesters said the appearance of the upgrade is the least of their problems. Their signs urge the company to build elsewhere and keep the potentially heightened electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) away from the residents.

“I live across from the substation and I don’t want an increase of the lines,” said Rhen Kohen. The substation, which fronts Camino Capistrano, is bordered by housing developments on its other sides.

“SDG&E has not compromised on one thing,” Kohen said, adding the least it could do is bury the lines underground.

Inside the , about 47 members of the public stopped by to learn about the project. Fliers explaining EMFs were available. They say that although some believe there is a “possible link between exposure to EMF and adverse health conditions,” studies and lab experiments are inconclusive.

The PUC will likely take a year-plus to decide the matter, and consultants will do a detailed environmental analysis before any decision is made.

The about the project.  In February, it passed a resolution saying it could only support the project if every environmental impact could be neutralized. The council, however, does not have direct control over the project.

Duane Cave, spokesman for the utility, said of the protesters: “I would think it would be better if they walked in one at a time and learned about the project.”

The company has welcomed some members of the public who were initially “dead set against the project,” Cave said. But taking a closer look has changed their minds.

A room full of bright polo shirts worn by SDG&E representatives outnumbered the guests, who trickled in throughout a four-hour open house. 

“We’re reaching out to one person at a time,” Cave said. “Then they can make a decision whether they like this or not.”

FULL DISCLOSURE – Before becoming editor of San Juan Capistrano Patch, Penny Arévalo served on a focus group for San Diego Gas & Electric and saw early plans to upgrade the local substation and power poles in the area. For her service, she received $75.