Banners Opposing Power Plant Go Up in Santee

Street banners proclaiming Santee’s opposition to the proposed Quail Brush power plant project have been installed at three gateway locations in the city.

The City Council agreed to put up the banners after unanimously approving  a resolution opposing the project on March 28.

The banners are now up at three locations: The 9500 block of Mission Gorge Road near the U.S. Post Office; Magnolia Avenue near the State Route 67 freeway; and at the intersection of Mast Boulevard and West Hills Parkway.

 

Update: On Thursday, April 26, the San Diego Planning Commission 
postponed the hearing to June 28.

One of the city’s concerns is that the project, originally designed to include eleven 100-foot-tall exhaust stacks and other bulky industrial structures, will not blend in well visually with the scenic hills along Santee’s western boundary with the city of San Diego.

Cogentrix Energy LLC of Charlotte, NC is proposing to build the natural gas-fueled, 100-megawatt generating station at an 11-acre site north of State Route 52 next to the Sycamore Canyon Landfill.

Before the plant can be built, Cogentrix needs the city of San Diego to rezone the property from open space to commercial. Cogentrix also needs a permit from  the state Energy Commission.

More information is available at the state Energy Commission website.

Quail Brush Developer Mulling Changes to Project

A firm vying to build a natural gas-fired power plant on Santee’s western border is “considering making some modifications to the profile of the proposed project,” in response to public criticism,  according to an April 16 report from the California Energy Commission.

Cogentrix Energy of North Carolina is redesigning the project to lower the proposed 11 exhaust stacks from 100 to 70 feet and group them into two clusters, said Eric Solorio, the agency's siting project manager.

Lowering the stacks will require Cogentrix to do new modeling to show the predicted path of emissions from the plant, and grouping the stacks into two clusters will require changes to the project's grading plan, Solorio said.  Studies to gauge the effect of the redesign will take about six weeks to complete, he said.

As currently proposed, the 100-megawatt electrical generating facility would include eleven 100-foot-tall exhaust stacks, a 30-foot-tall water tank and other two-story structures spread over an 11-acre site near the Sycamore Canyon landfill.

In March, the Santee City Council unanimously approved a resolution opposing the power plant “unless and until all effects of the proposal are fully disclosed, analyzed and mitigated (to) reduce effects to a level of insignificance in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.”

In addition to obtaining a permit from the Energy Commission, Cogentrix Energy needs approval from the city of San Diego to rezone the site from open space to industrial. The San Diego City Planning Commission has rescheduled its public hearing on the proposed rezone for April 26.

The Energy Commission also plans to hold more public hearings on Quail Brush, but not until the applicant provides more information about the project, the report states.

 Energy Commission officials recently cancelled a public hearing originally scheduled for April to allow themselves more time to review additional information requested from the developers.

“Once staff receives the applicant’s outstanding data responses and evaluates the information, then staff will schedule and notice future workshops, as needed, in order to address substantive issues,” the report states.

 Energy Commission officials said they have received numerous letters from the public, most of which “express concerns about potential environmental impacts of the proposed” project.

In March, nearly 200 people attended an informational workshop hosted by the Energy Commission, which also received a petition containing more than 1,000 signatures of people opposed to the project.

You can read the entire report here.

Santee City Council Votes to Oppose Quail Brush Power Plant Project

At its March 28 meeting, the Santee city council voted unanimously to oppose the proposed siting of the Quail Brush Genco LLC Generation Power Plant in a visually prominent location proximate to Santee’s western gateway.

Quail Brush Genco LLC has submitted an application to the California Energy Commission for the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt electrical generating power plant within the city of San Diego’s jurisdiction. The power plant is proposed to be located just outside the city of Santee’s jurisdiction on
a regionally and visually prominent hillside proximate to Santee’s western gateway and would include 11 exhaust stacks, each 100 feet in height, an 18-foot high radiator stack, a 22-foot high urea tank, a 20-foot high used oil tank, a 20-foot high new oil tank, a 30-foot high fire water tank, assorted exhaust vents and a two-story building housing a generator bank.

The city of Santee’s General Plan addresses the minimization of land use conflicts in adjacent areas, and seeks to protect vacant land in the East Elliot area along the city’s western boundary as part of a regional biological preserve system. The Community Enhancement Element of the General Plan strives to strengthen the gateways into the city by seeking to preserve the high quality scenic viewshed visible from the western entry along State Route 52.

The city council formally opposed the current proposed location and design of the Power Plant unless and until all effects of the proposal are fully disclosed, analyzed and mitigated with measures that reduce the effects to the level of insignificance in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

For additional information on the proposed project visit the city’s web site.