HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 4.02 TriVlyCapIncreaStatusCITY CLERK FILE # 1020-40
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 15, '2001
SUBJECT:
Status report on City intervention in 2002 Tri-Valley
Capacity Increase Project, which may approve a permit
for PG&E to expand electricity transmission facilities in
the Dublin area.
Report prepared by Elizabeth H. Silver, City Attorney
ATTACHMENTS:
None
RECOMMENDATION~ Receive report.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
DESCRIPTION: At its meeting on January 16, 2001, the City Council received an update regarding
Pacific Gas & Electric's application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity that would allow it to construct new facilities for
electricity transmission in the Dublin area, also called the 2002 Tri-Valley Capacity Increase Project.
PG&E proposes to build a new substation north of the City, actually located just inside ConIra Costa
County, which would receive power from a new Livermore substation to the east. On October 5, 1999, by
Resolution No. 184-99, the Council expressed its support for PG&E's proposal.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Project, which the CPUC issued on December 26,
2000, proposed a new alignment of facilities that would approve construction of the Dublin Substation in
Area C of Dublin Ranch. At its January 16 meeting, the Council authorized staff to provide comments to
the CPUC expressing the City's opposition to the DEIR's proposal to construct the Dublin Substation in
Area C of Dublin Ranch. At its February 5, 2001 meeting, the Council was informed that the City would
be filing a Petition to Intervene as a party in the matter and providing the CPUC with its objections to the
location of facilities proposed in the DEIR.
On February 8, 2001, the City Attorney's Office filed the petition to intervene. On February 13, 2001, the
City Attorney's Office filed written testimony on the City's behalf. The Administrative Law Judge
granted the City' s petition, and the City has been participating as a party since that time, including
presenting oral testimony before the ALJ during hearings that lasted from the middle of February until the
beginning of March. Vice Mayor Janet Lockhart, City Manager Rich Ambrose, Community Development
Director Eddie Peabody, and Public Works Director Lee Thompson all appeared at the evidentiary
hearings on March 6 and provided testimony. The City separately submitted comments on the Draft EIR,
the preparation of which is a separate but related process.
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The Final EIR was released on April 19 and continues to recommend the construction of the Dublin
Substation just north ofi-580, rather than in the undeveloped area proposed by PG&E. Staff will prepare
response comments by the May 14 deadline. ·
The evidentiary hearings in the proceeding concluded on May 1. The City Attomey's Office submitted an
opening brief on May 2, presenting the City' s objections to the site for the Dublin Substation
recommended in the EIR. No party in the proceeding supports that location.
The evidence presented during the hearings, the EIR and response comments, and the opening and
response briefs will form part of the basis for the ALJ's recommendation to the CPUC and for the
Commission's eventual decision. The ALJ expects to issue decisions in May certifying the EIR and
recommending to the Commission the best route for transmission facilities. The current schedule
provides for a proposed decision by the Commission in July and a final decision in August.
Recommendation: None. No action is required of the Council at this time. Staff will provide further
updates as this matter progresses.
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