Wednesday, December 15, 2004

California's new Energy Source: Canada?

Could Canada be the light at the end of California's energy-deprived tunnel? Rather than import fuels for electric generation--such as liquefied natural gas--some developers was to link power from the Great White North to the Golden State directly:

Under the proposal described Tuesday, the 1,600-megawatt cable would be built by Sea Breeze Pacific Regional Transmission System, owned 50-50 by Sea Breeze Power and Boundless Energy LLC.

The interconnection application with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. of San Francisco is for a high-voltage cable stretching nearly 1,200 miles along the coasts of British Columbia, Washington state, Oregon and California.

I'm nonplussed. The task of getting environmentalists on board such a project is almost Herculean.

Nonetheless, that a company would propose such a risky scheme reinforces the fact that more power supplies are needed in California--an argument rebuffed by environmentalists seeking to block liquefied natural gas terminals along the coast.