Energy Transmission Threat to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Golden Pacific Powerlink
In May 2024, the California Independent System Operator released a report approving the then-named Imperial Valley to North of SONGS transmission line—a 130-mile corridor from the Imperial Valley to San Onofre, designed to cut through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The contractor NextEra published the following details in their report.
NextEra’s contractors claimed the following in their proposals:
• Horizon West indicated that its proposed route would minimize impacts to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park by following a combination of existing transmission lines, existing roads, and other permanent impacts within the park for the majority of the crossing.
• Horizon West indicated that the proposed route would limit exposure to dense urban areas but would traverse an urban area for one portion of the proposed route.
• Lotus-SCE indicated that the proposed route would minimize the length within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park General Plan designated wilderness areas.
In August 2024, SDG&E announced that they had taken over the contract to build, maintain, and operate the line between the Imperial Valley Substation and the San Onofre Substation. NextEra will still build and maintain the San Onofre Substation as part of the project. You can read more about this here.
The map below shows the existing 69kV line grandfathered into the Park in 1933. The power line was built before the Park was established and before there were regulations to protect natural and cultural resources. Along with the development of the state park also came the designation of state wilderness throughout the Park. In fact, today 85% of the Park is protected wilderness, making it one of the largest wilderness areas in California’s state park system.
ABF is working with SDG&E, the Park, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to inform the process and minimize impacts to the Park. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest and most bio-diverse state park in California. California has committed to two ambitious goals: conserving 30% of the state’s lands by 2030 to preserve biodiversity, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. These commitments now stand in direct conflict. The Golden Pacific Powerlink forces a choice: will California sacrifice one of its most biodiverse protected landscapes to meet energy transmission goals, or will it find alternative routes that honor both commitments?
Our position is clear: the line must be rerouted. Protecting Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is essential to preserving California’s biodiversity and meeting the state’s 30×30 conservation goals. Both objectives can and must be achieved.
The existing transmission lines will go from this:
To this:
There is Still Time to Act:
While the transmission line has been approved the exact path has not. Next Era is working on the details of the path, meeting with stakeholders and preparing for submission of their environmental report to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
What we are doing now:
Anza-Borrego Foundation is actively educating decision makers to hopefully move the path of the line outside of the Park or minimize impact to the greatest degree possible. This effort is ongoing and will take time. Once the application for the line has been submitted new action will take place and we will keep you posted along the way.
What you can do:
- Become a Member
- Subscribe to our Newsletters
- Donate – this is a resource intense effort staff is working tirelessly to communicate with the right people before it’s too late.
- Tell a friend, inform local decisions makers, and let people know about this unintended consequence of meeting renewable energy goals in California on the largest most biodiverse park in California. Together we can bring light to this situation, support carbon neutrality goals and protect our most precious public lands.
If you have questions or want to help this effort, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Executive Director Bri Fordem.
Want more info? Watch the Renewable Energy Impacts on the Park Webinar, presented by Bri Fordem, Executive Director of ABF, and David Garmon, President of Tubb Canyon Desert Conservancy. This webinar covers both solar and transmission project impacts on our region with special attention to the current proposal to build a 500kV transmission line from Imperial County to North of San Onofre, planned to slice through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.