A company that is based in Oregon has said that they want to construct a wind farm in south eastern San Diego County. This farm is located to the north of I – 8 & the town of Boulevard which is next to an already existing wind farm of Campo. In the words of Ed Joyce, a reporter with KPBS environment, people that are living in rural areas tend to disagree with all these proposed energy proects and whether they are actually good for the community.
He says, “South California is a good place where you can generate a lot of renewable energy. There is a lot of sunshine, a lot of space and wind which make wind and solar generated power good sources for energy in the San Diego & Imperial County region. This is a part of 1500 acres in McCain Valley of eastern San Diego County. Here, Iberdrola renewables are wanting to make a wind farm.” Ed Clark, from this company, has illustrated where the 130 turbines are going to be placed around 3 miles north of I – 8.
Joyce then said, “Clark says that the turbines would be close to 400 feet from blade top to the base. This proposal also comes with access roads & a 138 kv transmission line. They plan to concentrate most of the turbines to the west of the road. This is being done in order to reduce the visual impact of this project.”
Clark also said that this project was supposed to generate ample power to generate enough electricity for 60,000 homes in San Diego and was also going to be providing ten permanent jobs. This wind project will also need to tie up with a substation which is to be built by San Diego Gas and Electric. Thus, there is not going to be a reason to get started on this project until the eco-substation is completed. This is situated near Jacumba.
This proposed sub station with another one in Mexico are being now reviewed from the point of view of the environment. These projects are going to need three transmission lines. A representative from Protect Our Communities, David Hogan, says that the same amount of energy could very easily be generated by puttinf solar panels on top of houses and garages everywhere in San Diego County and that there is no need to further ruin the landscape of San Diego.