City of Lake Elsinore
Home MenuUpdate February 25, 2021:
From now until June 2021, Southern California Edison is working along Lake Street, Temescal Canyon, and Concordia Ranch Road for the completion of the Valley-Ivyglen & Alberhill Transmission Line Project. Work includes; concrete foundation installation, tubular steel pole erection, and wire installation. This work will be ongoing through June 2021 and will progress south down Lake Street and east along Nichols Road. Residents can call 1.866.785.7057 or visit www.sce.com/ivyglen for additional information.
Background
Southern California Edison (SCE) has two proposed projects, Valley-Ivyglen Subtransmission Line and Alberhill System Project, which substantially impact the City of Lake Elsinore. These projects went before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for consideration and approval in 2018.
The Valley-Ivyglen Project includes 27 miles of transmission lines with pole heights up to 180 feet through unincorporated Riverside County, Menifee, Perris and would largely impact the City of Lake Elsinore.
The Alberhill System Project proposes replacing 11.75 miles of existing single-circuit lines with new double-circuit subtransmission lines, a new substation and two transmission lines connecting to the substation. The proposed route goes through unincorporated Riverside County, Menifee, Wildomar and would again largely impact Lake Elsinore.
Below are links to the CPUC's project Fact Sheets:
Valley-Ivyglen Subtransmission Line Project
The CPUC is the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the proposed project. In April 2016, the CPUC released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The public comment period for the DEIR was from April 14, 2016 through July 15, 2016.
During this comment period, the City submitted a detailed comment letter specifying its concerns related to the inadequacy of the DEIR and its failure to address seven key areas of concern for the City of Lake Elsinore. In addition, we urged our community to get engaged and to share their individual concerns regarding the projects. All local comments and responses from the CPUC can be viewed here.
The Final EIR, including responses to comments, was released in April 2017. In August 2018, the CPUC decided not to approve SCE's request to place hundreds of new power poles in the City of Lake Elsinore as part of the Alberhill Systems Project.
The CPUC determined that SCE fell short in its attempt to prove that 10 miles of new powerlines within the City, and a large substation with a dual row of 500 kV transmission towers just north of the City, will be necessary to assure reliable power in the Elsinore Valley.
The Alberhill Substation Project is slated to cost over $464 million with those costs being passed onto ratepayers. The full Commission’s decision largely followed the proposed decision of Administrative Law Judge Yacknin issued related to SCE’s Alberhill Substation and Valley-Ivyglen Projects.
With the decision, the CPUC ordered SCE to submit new evidence spanning nine separate categories, including evidence of the need for the Alberhill Project based on updated and more reliable electrical demand projections. Equally critical, CPUC President Michael Picker underscored the need for SCE to directly engage the community and address project impacts.
The City continues to monitor both of these project and explore various options to continue to defend the community and mitigate negative impact to the community.
Sign up for the City's interest list below to stay informed about any City news related to these projects.
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