Transmission line would link to renewable power

San Diego Gas and Electric is planning a new transmission line to link their customers to green power sources in the East.

The new line would extend about 120 miles -- its exact route remains undetermined -- and could carry 1,000 megawatts, enough to power about 650,000 homes, SDG&E said.

The utility said the line, dubbed the Sunrise Powerlink, would be needed by 2010 or 2011 to bolster reliability in a region with growing electricity demand and would be essential for the utility to meet a state goal of deriving 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010.

Edwin Guiles, chief executive of SDG&E, said those potential renewable resources lie -- largely to the east of San Diego in the form of geothermal, solar and wind power.