Save Temecula Plans Rally To Oppose 200-Foot High Power Transfer Line Through Town

TEMECULA, CA — Save Temecula, a grassroots community coalition opposing the SDG&E Golden Pacific Powerlink transformer line project through Temecula, will host a major public rally from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, July 31, at the Temecula Duck Pond, at the corner of Rancho California and Ynez roads. Hundreds of residents will gather in their trademark bright yellow "Save Temecula" shirts, carrying signs in a bright, visible display against the powerline.

Hundreds are expected to protest the prospect of 144-mile, high-voltage transmission lines, intended to route massive 500-kV overhead lines on 200-foot-tall towers, transmitting power between the Imperial Valley, San Diego County, and the LA Basin. Already, thousands of residents, the Temecula City Council, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, State Assembly members and the Temecula Valley Unified School District have all stated their opposition to the powerlink.

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The lines would not provide energy for Temecula or Riverside County, while forcing residents to shoulder the catastrophic fire, environmental, and economic risks, according to the group.

The pathway of the project would cut directly through iconic and residential corridors including Temecula Parkway, State Route 79 South, Temecula Creek, the Santa Margarita River, and Pechanga tribal land, according to the Golden Pacific Powerlink map.

Shal Renfro, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Save Temecula, spoke on the reason behind the rally.

"This isn't just a power line," Renfro said. "It's unprecedented industrial infrastructure, and it poses an existential threat to every family, home, business, and vineyard in Temecula. SDG&E plans to install 20-story steel towers in our dry hillsides and creek beds, crippling firefighting capability, threatening critical evacuation routes and cutting through ancestral Pechanga lands. We've stopped high-risk projects before, like the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect project, which was defeated in 2002. With a united front, we can compel the CPUC to protect our community once again."

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will have the final say on whether the project goes forward after formally reviewing SDG&E's application, which is expected to be submitted before the end of the year. Already, homeowners and landowners are being contacted to have their land surveyed in advance of the project.

Mark Winkler, Save Temecula president, also shared his thoughts on why people should attend the duck pond rally.

"Progress should never come at the expense of the people it claims to serve," Winkler said. "We don't question the necessity of any utility company providing clean and responsible power needs for communities, but we will not tolerate, nor should anyone tolerate, any subversive assault to exert power over them. We are making it clear today: Temecula will not be sacrificed for convenience or corporate strategy."

For more information, visit www.SaveTemecula.org.