Judge recommends rejecting Norco’s request to make Edison bury power lines for Riverside project – Press Enterprise

A judge urged state regulators in a proposed decision to reject Norco’s request to make Southern California Edison bury transmission lines for a long-awaited Riverside power project to reduce impacts on wildfire risk, views and property values.

A final decision on the $521 million project along the Santa Ana River still rests with members of the California Public Utilities Commission, which could vote on the issue as soon as next month. But folks on both sides of the fence aren’t waiting to weigh in.

While a few speakers asked the CPUC to support the judge’s proposed decision during an unrelated meeting Thursday, Feb. 15, in Lake Forest, many more – including local residents, two Riverside City Council members and GOP Assemblymember Bill Essayli of Riverside – asked the commission to make Edison move the planned power lines underground.

“The lines along with dry vegetation are a recipe for disaster,” Erika Lewis, who lives near the project area in Norco, told commissioners. “Please work with us to get these dangerous lines underground so you won’t have to answer for this later.”

Administrative Law Judge Robyn Purchia wrote in a 10-page proposed decision published Wednesday, Feb. 14, that such concerns were raised and considered during environmental reviews before the project was approved nearly four years ago. And while the commission can reverse such decisions, Purchia said that’s considered an “extraordinary remedy” and that settled decisions should generally “be allowed to stand undisturbed.”

That position is in line with a growing push from state leaders to limit delays on projects that will boost California’s electrical infrastructure, which needs to expand rapidly in coming years to meet the state’s clean energy goals.

Gov. Gavin Newsom in July announced a slate of laws aimed at expediting electric grid and other clean energy projects in part by limiting how long they can be tied up by legal challenges. And just last week, Newsom cited those laws as he limited the window to appeal a controversial solar energy project off Interstate 10 in eastern Riverside County.

State leaders insist these new policies don’t shortcut environmental reviews, but that they better balance those concerns with worries about how drawn-out legal challenges can delay needed infrastructure projects. Sam Assefa, director of the state’s office of planning and research, told the Desert Sun it can take an extra three to five years to build projects like the solar farm near Desert Center due to litigation.

“Almost every major project is challenged, and a significant amount of cost is added,” Assefa said told the Sun. “And often these projects are critical for meeting our climate goals.”

The Riverside transmission project has been in the works for nearly two decades.

Riverside is the only city of its size in California that has just one connection to the regional electric grid. City leaders say that leaves residents vulnerable to outages and could one day limit both the city’s growth and its transition to electric transportation and buildings. So Edison and Riverside have been developing plans for a second connection, called the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project, which would tie into the grid near the 15 freeway in Jurupa Valley and carry power to Riverside along 9.3 miles of high-voltage wires that would cut through a corner of Norco.

Jurupa Valley filed a lawsuit over the project in 2016 that said overhead lines would hurt property values and residents’ views. So when the CPUC voted to approve the project in March 2020, it included plans to bury the 4 miles of power lines that run through Jurupa Valley’s borders. But the remaining 5.3 miles of high-voltage transmission lines are approved to zigzag between steel poles and towers that would soar up to 180 feet.

Norco raised concerns at the time about that remaining stretch of above-ground power lines. But Purchia noted in her decision that the city didn’t file a formal petition over the project until October, which was more than two years after the protest window had closed.

During comments Thursday to the CPUC, Essayli said he hopes commissioners will look past procedure and consider the merits of the petition.

“If there is a true fire risk, and we believe there is, I think that needs to be given proper consideration.”

Norco’s petition offered data indicating wildfires are more common in the area now.

Fires sparked by above-ground power lines that have devastated places like Paradise and Maui are top of mind for many residents. While most incidents are attributed to smaller distribution lines and not the large transmission lines proposed here, Riverside County Fire Chief William Weiser still said moving the project underground “would significantly reduce the threat of wildland fires to the community of Norco, Corona, Jurupa and Riverside.”

Riverside formed a committee a couple years ago to study the issue and try to find funds to cover the extra costs of burying the power lines. That effort drew support from Essayli and a bipartisan group of elected officials. Lawmakers suggested federal funds could help defray the larger price tag, though no actual dollars were committed. So in October, the Riverside City Council voted to leave the decision up to the CPUC.

The CPUC’s judge called Norco’s arguments about how fire risks have increased since the project was approved “unpersuasive.” During the prior review, she said regulators considered the undergrounding option but “determined the project poses a less-than-significant risk of wildfire.”

Norco is “extremely disappointed” in the preliminary ruling, city spokesperson Kelli Newton said. She said city leaders remain hopeful that the commission will see undergrounding as a “prudent and wise investment” that could “prevent potential tragedies.”

Asked whether Norco would consider suing over the project if the CPUC approves it, Newton said city officials have no comment at this time.

Edison, meanwhile, is pleased with the judge’s proposed decision and optimistic it will be finalized soon, according to spokesman Jeff Monford.

“This project is much needed for electric reliability and resiliency in the area and to accommodate the city’s growing population and the expected increase in electrification of vehicles and buildings.”

Monford said Edison aims to break ground on the project by the end of the year.

The CPUC’s next meeting is March 21 in San Francisco. An agenda will be posted by March 11, which will show whether commissioners plan to take this issue up in that meeting.

Residents can offer public comments in writing now, through the utility commission’s website, or by phone or in person during the next meeting.