Hearing Edison power line project is scheduled

The California Public Utilities Commission will host a public hearing Friday for a proposed project by Southern California Edison to construct a nine-mile subtransmission line from Newbury Park to Moorpark through the Santa Rosa Valley.

The meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Board of Supervisor’s hearing room at the Ventura County Government Center, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura.

The proposed 66-kilovolt subtransmission line would lace through the Santa Rosa Valley, running across new towers from Edison’s Moorpark substation at the northwest corner of Gabbert Road and Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark to the Newbury Park substation at 1295 Lawrence Drive.

The project will also traverse portions of unincorporated Ventura County and will be constructed within existing easements, rights-of-way and Edison-owned property.

Thirty-four steel poles, ranging from 75 to 125 feet tall, would need to be constructed over five miles for the project. Thirty-six existing 70- to 90-foot tall wooden poles would be replaced with 36 steel poles about 75- to 95-feet tall on about 1.2 miles. Fourteen existing lattice steel towers would be replaced by new tubular steel poles on another 2.5 miles.

Edison officials said the project is needed immediately to address possible overload conditions during periods of peak customer demand.

However, many residents who live near the proposed project say the new power lines near their homes will cause health and safety problems and that alternatives should be considered.

The Public Utilities Commission is also considering another Edison project called the Presidential Substation Project, which includes construction of a substation and a 3.5-mile, 66-kilovolt subtransmission line route through Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and unincorporated areas of Ventura County.

The PUC is expected to make a decision on the Presidential Substation Project in March 2010.

Residents are concerned that despite their ardent objections, the PUC issued a draft resolution exempting the Newbury Park/Moorpark line from environmental review.

Friday’s public meeting with the PUC was requested by the county of Ventura.

By From staff reports