The green of Palomar Mountain, below the blue line, should say it all on the major environmental and fire risk impacts.
Palomar Mountain's history of strong 100 +mph winds is very similar to what happened in Houston, Texas May 2024. Palomar Mountain has had small tornado touch-downs that have turned huge oak branches into kindling and split and toppled trees hundreds of years old in seconds. Having 500,000 Volt transmission lines on a small 6000 foot elevation mountain makes no sense.
High voltage transmission lines can be a severe fire danger. According to CalFire, "a faulty transmission line" caused the Paradise Fire in 2018 that burned over 150,000 acres and killed 89 people. But this is not the only fire created by high voltage lines. As recently as January 2025, the Eaton Fire in Alta Dena, killed 19 people. Click here for a more complete list. The same thing could happen here with our 100 mph winds out of the rim where this line might cut through. Let's not forget, Palomar is on the Elsinore fault line and are subject to earthquakes, which could lead to tower collapses!
Palomar has so many historic Indian sites with hundreds of grinding holes and areas where many pottery shards and arrowheads have been found. This picture shows some the grinding holes that can be found in the State Park, but you can find many others all over Palomar Mountain, especially on the rim where the native women used to enjoy the breath taking views of the ocean.
Numerous endangered species are native to Palomar Mountain. We have nesting habitat for bold and golden eagles. You will find the Laguna Skipper Butterfly in meadows and around the ponds. We also have plants, frogs, birds and other sensitive species. More to come on this issue, please stay tuned for updates.
Our old-growth forest, a LUNG for San Diego County, would be permanently scarred by the need to clear-cut at least 200ft wide right-of-way. These would need to be maintained with pesticides that would go straight into our aquafer from which we get our community water.
CAISO is pushing for this type of project to bring clean energy to CA. The Imperial Valley Substation would receive Solar from Arizona or WInd energy from New Mexico. Is SDGE trying to make us believe that the energy produced at low cost in Mexicali by the SEMPRA managed Natureal Gas Burning plant [conveniently already connected to this substation thank to a 230kV lines] wouldn't go onto the Golden Pacific Powerlink?
The Serrano-Del Amo-Mesa 500-kilovolt (kV) Transmission Reinforcement project was officially canceled by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) Board of Governors in May 2026.
COST: When the project was originally approved in the 2022-2023 planning cycle, the estimated cost was $1.125 billion. However, after Southern California Edison (SCE) completed its detailed engineering phase, updated cost projections skyrocketed to $5 billion—nearly a 350% increase. What will it be for the Golden Pacific Powerlink with a starting price tag of $1.6-2.3B?
ALTERNATIVES which SDGE should consider for this project:
Tell us why you believe Palomar Mountain, with its very unique old-growth forest and the beauty of the Four Seasons, should be preserved for future generations.