Jim Pelley of Ocotillo graciously supplied these photos of the first day of the Ocotillo Express Wind Farm construction. Pattern's Earth Moving equipment has already caused substantial damage to the fragile desert outside of Ocotillo. Crushed Ocotillo plant. Ocotillo plants can live 60 years and there have been reported cases of 100 year old Ocotillo. Unfortunately this one had its' life cut short by Pattern's Earth Moving equipment. Another crushed Ocotillo plant. Good chance this dormant Ocotillo in the foreground won't be standing much longer ... [More]

Ocotillo residents are fighting to preserve 12,500 acres of desert habitat from being destroyed. The 465-foot-tall industrial Wind Turbines would be visible for miles. Large numbers of Ocotillo, the beautiful desert plant that gives the tiny desert town its' name will be destroyed. Picture hundreds of 465 foot tall metal wind turbines as far as the eye can see. Funny part was, when we were driving around the proposed project site this past weekend, there was barely a hint of a breeze. Coincidence?   What's at stake if the Ocotillo Wind project goes thru. Following photos we... [More]

Ocotillo Express Wind Farm Map In case you had any doubt that the Ocotillo Express Wind Farm is a huge project which will destroy miles and miles of desert habitat take a look at this interactive Google Earth Map. Thanks to Mojave Desert BLOG for the image which I then overlaid in Google Earth. Large Version

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss whether or not to approve the March 28th Planning Commission's recommendation to grant a conditional use permit (CUP) and height variance for more than one hundred 425 ft. tall turbines on 12,000 acres of beautiful desert habitat adjacent to the southern boundary of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and surrounding the village of Ocotillo. We need a very large crowd of people who are opposed to this project to attend this public hearing! Anza-Borrego Desert State Park needs defending!  The park staff comments were suppressed so ... [More]

 After driving out to Ocotillo to voice my concerns over the proposed Ocotillo express Wind Farm, I came to realize that the  Bureau of Land Management's definition of "public input" was a bit inconsistent with mine. Representatives from the BLM, Imperial County officials and Pattern Energy were all given center stage, but when it came time for Ocotillo residents and others to voice their concerns, the presentation quickly came to an end.  We were told that this was an informational meeting only and comments would only be accepted via email and letters. Personally I ... [More]

We had the unfortunate surprise of finding one of the Sunrise Powerlink staging areas as we were heading out to Anza Borrego for the day. This construction yard was just south of the 8 Freeway in Jacumba near the U.S. Mexican border. If you look close you can see the Southwest Powerlink towers in the background as well as the U.S. border fence.  

There has been an unprecedented assault on our deserts and backcountry in the name of renewable energy. While the Anza Borrego Desert State Park was spared the bulldozer's blade back in 2008, many so called "green" projects have been popping up all over California. Although these remote solar and wind projects may seem environmentally friendly on the surface, there is a dark side that seems to be ignored by the media. In order to be financially viable, large scale solar and wind projects require thousands of acres of public lands to be scraped clean in order to make room for the dishes... [More]

I spent Thursday morning out in McCain Valley protesting SDG&E's Sunrise Powerlink ground-breaking ceremony along with the Protect Our Communities Foundation and other concerned San Diegans. This high profile invite-only event had our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in attendance as well as other Sunrise Powerlink supporters and local politicians. Many people, myself included, would call this event premature since the Sunrise Powerlink is being challenged in the courts, but SDG&E moved forward anyway. SDG&E also unveiled its' new high tech helicopter that apparently will... [More]

Not that I am terribly surprised, but I was hopeful that Forest Supervisor Metz would show some backbone and stand up to SDG&E / Sempra. Unfortunately this was not the case and Supervisor Metz caved to political and corporate pressure and agreed to let SDG&E route the Sunrise Powerlink through the Cleveland National Forest. This is a sad day for San Diego and anyone who likes to get out and enjoy nature with out the tell-tale signs of man. The character of the Cleveland National Forest will be forever changed due to corporate greed, deceitful tactics and the unwillingness of the US ... [More]

In the small desert town of Ocotillo, CA the winds may be changing. Pattern Energy, a San Francisco based energy company is proposing to turn 15,000 acres of public lands bordering the Anza Borrego Desert State Park into a 561 megawatt wind farm with 240 wind turbines. Unfortunately for the small town of Ocotillo and the Imperial Valley, little would be gained as the power would be funneled to San Diego over the infamous Sunrise Powerlink. John Calaway, Pattern Energy director of wind development states that the area would benefit from 400 construction jobs during the two year construction ... [More]

SDG&E has scheduled a series of "Community Council" meetings in communities that will be affected by construction of the Sunrise Powerlink. In their words the purpose is to "keep the community informed so that accurate information is available and inconveniences can be kept to a minimum." If Alpine is any indication of "keeping the community informed" then SDG&E has not been doing its' due diligence. Many Alpine residents who attended Monday nights Community Council meeting still feel like they are being left in the dark about the  undergrounding portion which will run under Alpi... [More]

I spent a couple hours Saturday, helping the ECCAC get the word out to members of the Lakeside community about the Sunrise Powerlink . The East County Community Action Committee has been doing a great job of informing back country communities about the destructive path of this project. What amazed me was the number of people who had no knowledge of the project and its' route through El Monte Valley and other protected, open-spaced habitats of San Diego's backcountry. Many east county residents feel they have been blindsided by SDG&E and are now having this project dumped in their backya... [More]

Although the Sunrise Powerlink has been re-routed to avoid the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the battle continues for many residents of San Diego's backcountry. One such community, Alpine is being faced with having 6 miles of  12 ' trenches dug along its' main artery to accomodate the 2 parallel 230KV lines. Representatives from SDG&E  state that the "undergrounding"  of the Alpine portion of the Sunrise Powerlink, will take two years to install; one year for the conduits and another year to pull and splice the massive cables. According to Sa... [More]

Even though the legality of the Sunrise Powerlink is still being questioned, SDG&E is wasting no time in sending survey crews out along the proposed route. In some cases,  according to this KUSI video they are using threats and coercion to gain access to private property. Check out this "Turko Files" video from KUSI (You need Flash Player)

Even though the Anza Borrego Desert State park has been spared from the destructive path of the Sunrise Powerlink ; the battle is far from over.  SDG&E's Southern route goes through portions of Cleveland National Forest as well as land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Formerly untouched areas such as the Carrizo Gorge Wilderness Area will forever be marred by 150 foot steel towers. Wilderness aside, what about the East County residents who live in the rural San Diego backcountry? It is estimated that the Sunrise Powerlink will affect 3000 east S... [More]