ALJ/MLC/t93 DRAFT Item 2
8/23/2001
Decision PROPOSED DECISION OF ALJ COOKE (Mailed July 24, 2001)
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Application of PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY (U 39 E) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Authorizing the Construction of the Tri Valley 2002 Capacity Increase Project |
Application 99-11-025 (Filed November 22, 1999) |
OPINION GRANTING A CERTIFICATE OF
PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY
1. Summary
This decision grants a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to construct 8.8 miles of new 230 kilovolt (kV) double-circuit transmission line, upgrade certain other transmission facilities, and construct a transmission/distribution substation to serve the Dublin area. The facilities we approve will be constructed in the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton, and unincorporated areas of Alameda County, an area referred to as the Tri Valley.1
Demand in the Tri Valley area is projected to exceed supply as early as 2002. PG&E has demonstrated the need for a portion of the project it proposed in order to maintain the reliability of its electric system; however it did not demonstrate that all of the facilities it proposes are necessary to serve expected demand. We select one of the environmentally superior Pleasanton routes identified in the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) prepared for the Commission. We reject PG&E's proposed route and an alternative proposed by the City of Pleasanton and the Kottinger Ranch Homeowner's Association (jointly, Pleasanton Parties), although some of the route we adopt overlaps with portions of the route recommended by the Pleasanton Parties. Each of the routes we reject results in greater impacts on the environment and the local community than the route we select today.
Regarding the proposed substation in Dublin, the FEIR concludes that an alternative, more southerly, location for the Dublin substation is environmentally superior to PG&E's proposed substation. The FEIR concludes that, given forecasted load growth, slow growth measures in the North Livermore area, increased transmission capacity from the Tri Valley project as a whole, and the significant environmental impact of constructing a new substation in North Livermore, no substation should be constructed in North Livermore. After reviewing the question of need and weighing the environmental impacts, we grant a CPCN to PG&E to construct the FEIR's environmentally superior Dublin substation but deny PG&E's request for a CPCN for the North Livermore substation.
