Oxnard residents oppose plan for 3rd power plant

The 45-megawatt generator would be in place by August at Mandalay Bay near two bigger power plants, officials said. It would provide enough power for 29,250 households, much of that for use in Ventura County.

It is one of five units to be installed across the Los Angeles region by summer at a total cost of $250 million. Other sites include Norwalk, Ontario, Stanton and Rancho Cucamonga. Edison officials said scattered sites were selected in part to prevent an earthquake from knocking them all out.

By power plant standards, the new generators are pipsqueaks. In contrast, the existing Reliant Energy power station at Mandalay Bay generates 430 megawatts -- a megawatt is enough electricity for about 700 households. Reliant also operates a 1,500-megawatt power plant at nearby Ormond Beach. The new generators are intended to produce just enough energy to satisfy peak demand.

State Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey directed Edison in August to produce an additional 250 megawatts of power by summer 2007. Record heat last year resulted in fatalities and power shortages across Southern California. Extreme heat is forecast this summer, and energy companies are scrambling to prepare.

But many Oxnard residents question why the power station must be built in their city. They argue that Oxnard is already home to two big power plants and is being considered for two proposed offshore liquefied natural gas projects.

Australian resources giant BHP Billiton is proposing to build an $800-million terminal 14 miles off the Ventura County coast, while Houston-based NorthernStar Natural Gas Co. seeks to build a big liquefied natural gas terminal on an oil platform 21 miles offshore. Both facilities would be linked to Oxnard by pipelines.

Liquefied natural gas terminals receive super-chilled natural gas from overseas, heat it to vapor and distribute it to homes and businesses. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush, as well as many business leaders, support such projects to ensure a reliable energy supply. California air quality regulations favor natural gas, a clean-burning fossil fuel, to fight smog.