On Tuesday, August 5, there will be a public meeting about the environmental impacts of a proposed new energy facility in south San Jose. The project could be built in one of two places: on an orchard in Coyote Valley, or at an existing PG&E substation. According to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC)’s environmental review, building at the existing substation would be much better for the environment. Please attend the meeting or email the CPUC and urge them to choose the substation location—not the orchard in Coyote Valley.
What’s Happening
A company called LS Power is planning a new energy transmission line that will connect PG&E’s Metcalf substation, just north of Coyote Valley, to another substation in downtown San Jose. Last year, LS Power asked PG&E for permission to build the terminal facility for the transmission line right on the Metcalf substation property, which would be the simplest, cheapest, and least environmentally damaging location. At the time, PG&E refused to let the terminal be built at their substation, with the result that LS Power instead proposed to build the terminal on a site in Coyote Valley over a mile away from the substation. To do this, LS Power would have to bulldoze the orchard currently on the site, dig a trench along nearly a mile of the Coyote Creek Trail, and bore a tunnel underneath Coyote Creek for the additional transmission line that would be needed to connect the terminal to the Metcalf substation. All of this would increase the cost of the project – a cost that would be passed on to the public.
Last September, we asked our supporters to email the CPUC to call for the terminal to be built at the Metcalf substation, and over 400 of you responded! Now, we’re pleased to report that PG&E recently stated publicly that they’re working to create enough space at the Metcalf substation to allow the energy terminal to be built there. Furthermore, the CPUC’s just-released Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has concluded that putting the terminal at the Metcalf substation would be the environmentally superior alternative to putting it in Coyote Valley.
These are encouraging signs, but Coyote Valley is still at risk! We need to show the CPUC, PG&E, and LS Power that there’s widespread community support for the environmentally superior alternative – putting the energy terminal at the Metcalf substation instead of in Coyote Valley.
Why It Matters
The Coyote Valley orchard where the terminal could be built is right next to Coyote Creek, which is the backbone of the wildlife corridor through Coyote Valley. Animals that depend on the creek corridor to be able to migrate from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Diablo Range would be subjected to noise, nighttime lighting, human activity, and other disturbances from the construction and operation of the energy facility. Instead of trees, the site would be covered with six acres of concrete and transmission towers up to 100 feet tall. In addition, the 1.2-mile-long additional transmission line that would be needed in order to connect the terminal to the Metcalf substation would dig up part of the Coyote Creek Trail and bore a tunnel underneath Coyote Creek.
Monterey Road, where this orchard site is located, is already a wildlife roadkill hotspot. The highest incidence of bobcats, badgers, coyotes, deer, and other animals being killed by cars is right around this location, proving that animals are desperately trying to get across Monterey Road to the safety of Coyote Creek on the other side. Putting a six-acre energy facility in the path of these animals would only make this problem worse.
What You Can Do
Please attend the CPUC’s August 5 meeting (either in person or via Zoom), or email the CPUC and tell them to locate this new energy facility at the existing PG&E substation, not in Coyote Valley.
Meeting information:
Date: Tuesday, August 5 at 6:00 p.m.
Location: Tully Community Branch Library, 880 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111
Zoom link: https://bit.ly/PSCVmeeting
Phone: (888) 788-0099
Webinar ID: 815 7241 1949
If you are unable to attend the meeting either in person or virtually, please email the CPUC using the form below.
Thank you for speaking up to protect Coyote Valley!