Port Commission rejects smaller power plant on bayfront

Tanya Mannes
San Diego Union Tribune
03/14/2007

CHULA VISTA – In a key decision for Chula Vista's plans for bayfront redevelopment, the San Diego Port Commission voted yesterday to grant the city's request to demolish the South Bay Power Plant and prevent a plant from being built nearby.

The Port's vote effectively kills a plan by LS Power Generation, which operates the South Bay Power Plant, to replace the structure with a smaller plant on the bayfront.

The 47-year-old power plant is scheduled to be demolished by 2010. Before that can happen, the state needs to lift the plant's “must run” status. Chula Vista officials must convince regulators that electricity from the South Bay Power Plant isn't needed. Some say building a replacement plant is the best – and possibly the only – way to do so.

LS Power wanted to build the replacement plant on Port property. But yesterday, Port Commissioners said that won't happen.

Port Commissioner Mike Najera, who represents Chula Vista on the seven-member commission, made a motion stating the Port would work with LS Power to find a site for a plant that's “off tidelands.”

“I've grown up looking at that ugly, nasty power plant all my life,” he said.

Najera said Chula Vista residents have never been able to enjoy their waterfront because it's taken up by industrial uses – most visibly the power plant with its smokestacks and scaffolding.

The vote was 4-0 with three commissioners absent. Those voting were: Chairwoman Sylvia Rios, Najera, Stephen Cushman and Robert “Dukie” Valderrama. Those absent were Victor Vilaplana, Michael Bixler and Robert “Rocky” Spane.

As a formality, Najera's motion will be brought back as a resolution for a vote at a future meeting.

Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox said the Port's stance “feels like a victory for the people of Chula Vista.”

“It's very reassuring and satisfying that the Port District understands the needs of one of its member cities,” Cox said after the vote.

The city's 550-acre bayfront stretches from the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge to just south of the power plant. Gaylord Entertainment wants to develop part of the land with a hotel, convention center and condominiums. The San Diego Chargers want to build a new stadium and are considering sites in Chula Vista, including the bayfront.

Overview

Background: City officials want to demolish the South Bay Power Plant, but state regulators won't allow it to be shut down until there is a replacement. LS Power Generation, which operates the plant, asked for permission to build a smaller power plant on another bayfront site. The Chula Vista City Council opposed the company's plan.

What's changing: The San Diego Port Commission, which administers the land that LS Power is proposing for a new site, yesterday voted to support Chula Vista's request. The Port won't allow a new plant on the bayfront.

The future: Chula Vista and Port officials will work with LS Power to find an inland site for a replacement power plant.

The South Bay Power Plant takes up 115 acres. LS Power last year submitted an application with the state to build a smaller plant on 13 acres nearby and then demolish the old facility. The Chula Vista City Council voted unanimously Feb. 20 to block that plan.

Cushman said the Port originally acquired the South Bay Power Plant intending to demolish it and redevelop the site.

Fulfilling that goal has been complicated by the plant's “reliability – must run” status, known as RMR. That designation from the California Independent System Operator means the South Bay Power Plant is needed for grid reliability.

Councilman Steve Castaneda, who serves with Cox on the council's power plant subcommittee, said the city's priority is to get the South Bay Power Plant's must-run status lifted.

After the Port Commission's vote yesterday, LS Power Vice President Kevin Johnson said, “We're going to try to understand what happened in there.”

He said the company will work with the city and Port to decide what to do next.

“Clearly, we need a site to build a new plant – and we don't have a site,” Johnson said.

Cox, in public testimony before the Port's vote, emphasized that Chula Vista is not opposed to a power plant – just to the bayfront site.

“We stand ready to work with LS Power as they pursue an alternate location to our bayfront,” Cox said.

She noted that the South Bay Power Plant uses bay water for cooling. LS Power envisions using modern technology to build an air-cooled plant on the smaller bayfront site.

Cox said it doesn't make sense to tie up bayfront land with a power plant, “because an air-cooled plant does not require a waterfront location.”

Numerous people spoke in support of Chula Vista's position, including representatives of Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego; the Environmental Health Coalition; and San Diego Coastkeeper.

“What you are seeing is a real coming together of leadership in South Bay, taking control of their energy destiny,” said Laura Hunter, of the Environmental Health Coalition.

Also supporting Chula Vista's stance were representatives of Gaylord Entertainment and Pacifica Cos., a bayfront landowner.