San Diego Gas & Electric wants to lay down a 140-mile, 500-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line that would cut through California’s largest state park, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. They call it the Golden Pacific Powerlink and it would run from the Imperial Valley to the Orange County border.
The proposed line has also sparked massive opposition from environmentalists and local communities who are strongly against the overhead route. They are demanding the project be entirely rerouted away from protected environments and population centers.
Opposition to the line is lead by the Anza-Borrego Foundation, which is fighting to keep the lines out of California’s largest state park. Opponents point out that a previous proposal (the 2008 Sunrise Powerlink) was rejected for its park path, and warn that nearly 200-foot-tall towers would ruin dark skies, impact endangered bighorn sheep, and destroy fragile cryptobiotic soils.
[Cryptobiotic soil, also known as biological soil crust, is a living, highly fragile crust on the desert floor made of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, mosses, and lichens. Acting as the “glue of the desert,” these microorganisms weave together to prevent wind erosion, absorb precious rainfall, and provide essential nutrients for desert plants.]
The cost of the line is an estimated $2.3 billion.
Other opposition hubs include Southwest Riverside County residents in the Temecula Valley, who are mounting a “People Over Powerlines” campaign. Included in this campaign fight are the “Visit Temecula Valley” and the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association. They argue that industrial towers would permanently harm regional tourism, local horse and wine country, and property values.
Plus community organizers and residents in the Imperial Valley say they view their region as a “sacrifice zone,” and their that local environments take the hit to generate clean energy, while the residents themselves receive no long-term jobs or lowered utility rates.
SDG&E and grid managers claim the project is urgently needed to meet surging power demands, particularly from the rapid growth of AI data centers and the state’s broader clean-energy transition.
The Path Forward
The project remains in the preliminary proposal stage. SDG&E is gathering public input, but the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will ultimately decide if and where the line is built, with potential construction targeted for 2029.
Other points:
- Ratepayers would be on the hook for 9% of the project costs, but it’s too early to say what those costs will be.
- There will be “irreversible damage” to regional tourism and agriculture…
- The overhead lines will mar park’s views, and obscure the clear night skies..
- the line would affect the home range of native and endangered species,
- The 145-mile transmission line would bisect Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, widely recognized as California’s largest and most biodiverse park. .
