Transmission towers threaten San Bruno Mountain

by Lennie Roberts

When PG&E proposed to install huge transmission towers and power lines across the Peninsula Watershed as part of its project to meet increased demand and avoid outages, Committee for Green Foothills and other environmentalists caught notice - and spoke up for the protection of the views and critical habitat of this area.

After months of consideration and input from huge numbers of citizens and groups, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in June announced a tentative decision to require that lines in the entire southern section of the project (between the Jefferson Substation in Redwood City and Trousdale Avenue in Burlingame) be installed underground.

This is a great victory: the PUC's decision will protect habitat in Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve as well as in the Peninsula Watershed. Installing this line above ground would have required taller towers and wider foundations, disrupting views for miles around and impacting some of the most important habitat for native species, including the threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly.

Now our attention turns to the northern route of the project, where another prime area of habitat could be jeopardized by a PUC order to study an aboveground route that would place huge transmission towers over San Bruno Mountain.

Committee for Green Foothills and others are following this closely and providing input to ensure that the sensitive habitat and viewsheds of the State and County Park are protected.