Chino Hills Obstruction of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project

The Center supports the timely completion of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP).   The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) should reject the Chino Hills underground transmission line proposal.  The Center opposes undergrounding the Chino Hills section of the line because it is an unnecessary alteration of an already approved plan. 

The Center is particularly concerned about threats to a project that provides emission free electricity to Californians.  The California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program requires investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total procurement by 2020.  California ratepayers do not need the significant increase in the cost of the transmission line simply to appease the aesthetic requirements of some stakeholders. 

The underground proposal undermines the CPUC's approval of the Alta Wind Power Project in the Tehachapi area, one of the largest wind energy contracts in the United States.  The underground proposal is also unacceptable because 12 of 16 transmission structures have already been completed as part of the approved overhead position in the existing utility right-of-way corridor.