SDG&E executives argue that building through Anza-Borrego would allow northward expansion connecting with Southern California Edison's system in Riverside and Orange counties, increasing the reliability of the state's electrical grid.
In addition, they say, the southern route would come too close to another power line the company has, creating a fire hazard; would bisect tribal territory; and would be more disruptive to communities than building in the park along the easement for the smaller line, which pre-dated by nine years the park's establishment in 1933.
"If we took the southern corridor we would probably have four times as many miles of newly disturbed lands as we would through the northern corridor," Michael Niggli, SDG&E's chief operating officer, said in an interview. "There are some considerations here that suggest this may be a very appropriate way to meet the goals of the state of California."
Mark Jorgensen, the Anza-Borrego superintendent, said the park has been targeted before for power lines, water tunnels and fuel lines heading to San Diego from the east.
"We realize that life goes on outside of Anza-Borrego," said Jorgensen, who has worked in the park for 32 years. But "we feel it is important to stand up for the park values and why people set this site apart 75 years ago."
A spokeswoman for the governor, Lisa Page, said that Schwarzenegger "doesn't want to go through the park if it can be avoided" and that he has not backed a specific route.
But in his December letter to the Public Utilities Commission, the governor said he wanted "to offer my support for the Sunrise Powerlink project before you for consideration."
Schwarzenegger sent a copy of his letter to commission President Michael Peevey, a former energy company executive who has taken an interest in the project, though he is not assigned to oversee it.
On March 20, Peevey's chief of staff flew by helicopter over the proposed routes with Niggli, the utility's chief operating officer, who described the advantages of the Anza-Borrego route, according to a PUC filing.
"In the 25 years I've been doing this, I've never seen this kind of hands-on intervention by the commissioners and the governor this early in a case," said Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers' Action Network, a San Diego nonprofit advocacy group fighting the power line.
Sempra donated $25,000 to Schwarzenegger's 2007 inaugural committee, state records show. In 2004, the company gave the governor a $50,000 political contribution, which he returned due to a pending lawsuit between Sempra and the state.
There is a dispute between SDG&E and parks officials over whether the Parks and Recreation Commission would need to vote on a new power line. Shriver and Eastwood would have been in a position to exert influence over the project had it come before them for a vote, although they had not taken a position on it.
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michael.rothfeld@latimes.com
