- Sep 6, 2000
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<< TEMECULA, Calif. - Even when the lights were going dark across California, the grape growers, horse breeders, and hot air balloonists in scenic Temecula Valley opposed a plan to string new electricity transmission lines across and around their land.
A San Diego utility says the 500,000-volt line is needed to stave off the sort of power outages that hit California last winter and spring. The new line would link the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. grid to another utility's, a 31-mile connection through wilderness, vineyards, parks, and planned communities.
But California's rolling blackouts have ended, at least for now, and opposition to the new power line is stronger than ever in the valleys and neighborhoods some 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Residents say they worry about property values and personal health. They talk of tarnished vistas and blotted bluffs. They even question whether the $271 million project known as the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect is needed.
''They've touched everything that is the essence of our valley with one line. They're doing it for greed, not need,'' said Barbara Wilder, cochairwoman of Save Southwest Riverside County, a group opposed to the project. >>
Are Californians really this stupid, or arrogant? Kinda blows a hole in the "poor us getting screwed by the big Texas power companies" argument. Californians are reaming themselves, and apparently enjoy it. Not only that, the rougher the self-reaming, the more some seem to like it.
<< TEMECULA, Calif. - Even when the lights were going dark across California, the grape growers, horse breeders, and hot air balloonists in scenic Temecula Valley opposed a plan to string new electricity transmission lines across and around their land.
A San Diego utility says the 500,000-volt line is needed to stave off the sort of power outages that hit California last winter and spring. The new line would link the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. grid to another utility's, a 31-mile connection through wilderness, vineyards, parks, and planned communities.
But California's rolling blackouts have ended, at least for now, and opposition to the new power line is stronger than ever in the valleys and neighborhoods some 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Residents say they worry about property values and personal health. They talk of tarnished vistas and blotted bluffs. They even question whether the $271 million project known as the Valley-Rainbow Interconnect is needed.
''They've touched everything that is the essence of our valley with one line. They're doing it for greed, not need,'' said Barbara Wilder, cochairwoman of Save Southwest Riverside County, a group opposed to the project. >>
Are Californians really this stupid, or arrogant? Kinda blows a hole in the "poor us getting screwed by the big Texas power companies" argument. Californians are reaming themselves, and apparently enjoy it. Not only that, the rougher the self-reaming, the more some seem to like it.
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