Proposed Chula Vista electric power plant clears key hurdle: energy commission moves to give MMC license to proceed

San Diego Business Journal, May 12, 2008 by Liz Wiedemann

A proposed Chula Vista electric power plant replacement that's been jammed in a slow and costly approval process since 2006 is one step closer to construction.

New York-based MMC Energy Inc. said May 1 that the California Energy Commission staff has recommended licensing MMC's 100-megawatt natural-gas-fired power plant, based on a the commission's preliminary assessment of the proposal.

The assessment is not a final decision, however, it does conclude that the proposed project could be constructed and operated without causing significant environmental impact, given proper precautions.

MMC acquired the existing, outdated 40-megawatt peaking power plant in January 2006, intending to replace it with a cleaner burning 100-megawatt plant.

The plant is used to provide additional power on days when the demand for electricity is high.

Since last spring, MMC spent nearly $300,000 submitting the required paperwork to the city Planning Department, moving on in March 2007 to appeal to the CEC in Sacramento, said Harry Scarborough, MMC's senior vice president of operations and business development.

"Originally, we approached the city of Chula Vista with a request to build under a conditional-use permit, which, at that time, would've been under a scope that the city could've entertained," Scarborough said.

In June 2007, however, according to Scarborough, the council conceded that the project had advanced outside of the city's jurisdiction.

Michael Meacham, director of conservation and environmental services for Chula Vista, said the City Council has not taken a formal position on the proposal.

"Information from the commission's 539-page report just came to us a few weeks ago, and we're waiting for the state to do an independent analysis of the project, so the council hasn't taken a formal position yet," Meacham said.

The new plant would be 40 percent energy efficient compared to the existing plant's 27 percent. Scarborough explained that the measurement of energy efficiency is based on the amount of energy burned in operating the plant relative to the amount of energy the plant generates.

"I think we've done our due diligence for this proposal, which includes reaching out to the Chula Vista community," Scarborough said.

"We've knocked on many doors explaining what the project would be, and not only has no one complained, but most aren't aware the plant even exists," he said.

CEC staff has planned a May 12 meeting for the agencies and the public to raise questions and comments regarding the proposal, to be held at Chula Vista's Otay Recreation Center.

Board Clears Lindbergh Field Plans for Takeoff

The public board that manages Lindbergh Field certified an environmental impact report May 1 that was done in advance of a planned, $700 million improvement project.

In an 8-0 vote with one member abstaining, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority's board of directors officially adopted the document, which details all the possible impacts caused by the project, intended as the first phase of a multiphase effort to expand and improve the region's main airport.

The project's key elements include building 10 more gates at Terminal 2, the farthest western terminal, to bring the total to 51 gates; possible construction of a 3,700-space parking garage at Terminal 2; construction of a jet parking lot; and a variety of road improvements.

Residents from Point Loma and City Councilman Kevin Faulconer--who is not a member of the airport board--staged a protest against the proposed garage project the day before the board meeting, saying it would only add to the congestion in the area.

The project is scheduled to begin construction in early 2009.

The airport governing board is working with a variety of public agencies, including the San Diego Association of Governments, the city and county of San Diego, the San Diego Metropolitan and North County transit districts, and the U.S. Navy, to determine the long range future for Lindbergh Field. Last month, the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Regional Policy Committee took place.

The committee is expected to develop a final concept by February.