
The folks from NOPOC (Neighbors Organized to Protect Our Community) have announced that the CPUC Killed the Santa Cruz 115 kV Reinforcement Project, which would have spoiled lovely Day Valley and Corralitos with huge overhead power lines. The CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission), PG&E and CAISO, which oversees the statewide power grid, agreed that the project was not needed to maintain the reliability of the power grid.
This victory would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support and generous contributions of concerned citizens which enabled NOPOC to hire legal and technical experts who refuted PG&E’s claims.
Here is a link to the CPUC’s decision:
http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M149/K915/149915253.PDF
Energy conservation and the growth of decentralized solar and wind power are making these massive transmission line projects obsolete. In fact, annual power consumption in Santa Cruz County declined 10 percent from 2006 to 2013. NOPOC warns that the community must remain vigilant, however, in case PG&E attempts to revive this project or proposes a similar project in the future.
NOPOC has scheduled a community meeting at the Corralitos Grange Hall on Tuesday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. to update community members on the status of this project and to discuss next steps.
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