Protest Growing Over PG&E Plan for More Power Poles

By Jon Chown

A surge of protest is growing against Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to place a series of new, larger power poles along the Freedom Boulevard corridor. Nearly 100 people packed themselves into the Aptos Library’s Community Room Tuesday night to learn more about it, about the same number that went to a similar meeting on Saturday.

Jim Kerr and Nancy Bensen, who started working together against PG&E’s plan months ago, arranged the meeting. The project, to be constructed along the Freedom Boulevard corridor, will connect a second 115 kV line between PG&E substations in Corralitos and southern Aptos. It does this by creating a new 1.7 mile-long 115 kV line with new poles, and converting 7.1 miles of existing line into a double 115kV line with larger poles. Work is estimated to begin in the summer of 2015 and finished by fall of 2016.

About 31 new wood poles, about 85 feet tall, will replace 26 older, shorter poles. Another six or so 91-feet-high steel poles will also be installed at the intersection Freedom Boulevard and MacDonald Road, the intersection of Cox Road and Day Valley Road, and elsewhere.

Currently, the California Public Utilities Commission is only requiring an initial study mitigated negative declaration for the project, a very low standard for environmental review. Kerr and Bensen are driving for a full environmental impact report and asked the crowd to write a letter and request the same.

According to PG&E, the project is necessary in order to improve local service and prevent large-scale outages in the future. District 2 County Supervisor Zach Friend told the audience that PG&E told him that the project would also help prevent brownouts in the Central Valley. If an EIR was required, he said, the actual need for the project would have to be shown.

“Maybe they can make the argument that there is a need; I just don’t like the way this is being done,” Friend said.

Unfortunately, Friend said he hadn’t been able to do much so far, but if enough residents protested, the California Public Utilities Commission, which makes the decision, could require the EIR. A similar situation occurred in Redding and changes were made.

“It’s crazy,” said Brian Mathias of PG&E’s plan, which would put a huge steel pole on the corner of his mother’s property. Mathias was a member of the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Board and is very familiar with environmental reviews.

“You need an EIR to sneeze now. We had to do an EIR for a rodeo and they don’t for this? This is a 7-mile corridor; it’s a massive path,” he said.

Mathias said he would write a letter. Kerr and Bensen were handing out stamped envelopes, already addressed with letters already written — just waiting for signatures. Many in the audience took advantage of these. Sylvia Prevedelli, who owns Prevedelli Farms on Pioneer View Road, was one of several in the audience who had already written a letter of their own asking for an EIR.

Prevedelli said the power lines run through her property, a beautiful apple orchard. PG&E plans to cut hundreds of trees all along the route to make room for the added lines and Prevedelli is worried about her orchard. She said a PG&E worker recently tried to enter her property to check the lines and she sent him away.

“I stopped him and asked to see the right of way,” she said. “It was in 1947 or 1950 that this was done, so I don’t know what rights they have. They said I should research it; I told them they needed to do the research. It’s my property.”

Prevedelli said PG&E’s plan would put a 90-foot pole 100 feet from her house.

“I don’t want six lines running over my house,” she said. “PG&E doesn’t understand the impact they are making on the community.”

Because of Kerr’s efforts, the deadline for public comment on the project has been extended until Dec. 5. Concerns regarding the PG&E project can be sent to Tania Treis, principal, Panorama Environmental, Inc., One Embarcadero Center, Suite 740, San Francisco, CA 94111.