Mar. 12--The North County Times, Escondido, Calif., has moved a correction for the story slugged ES-POWER-LINE-OPPONENTS, filed by McClatchy-Tribune Regional News for Mar. 8.

The story gave incorrect information about the Sierra Club in the eighth graf. The Sierra Club is not seeking compensation from the California Public Utilities Commission. The club teamed up with the Center for Biological Diversity to examine environmental issues associated with the power line, but only the center filed for compensation.

The new version corrects the error in the eighth graf and adds clarification in a new ninth graf.

Please delete or kill the earlier version and use the corrected one below.

Groups seek $2.7 million for fighting power line

By Dave Downey

North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

Mar. 8--Opponents of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s power line have petitioned the state to compensate them for $2.7 million in costs they say they incurred over three years battling the Sunrise Powerlink -- costs that would be passed on to utility ratepayers.

The groups were "intervenors" in the Sunrise case under a program that allows opponents to take on a formal role in arguing merits of utility projects before the California Public Utilities Commission, the regulatory body that licenses electric, gas and telephone projects.

The state lets intervenors recoup their costs.

But critics say the reimbursement requests are excessive. And because of the prospect of making big money, they suggest the program encourages groups to routinely oppose utility projects, whether ill-conceived or not.

The intervenors counter that their bills are reasonable. They say their involvement helped hold down costs of the $2 billion transmission line, and prevented it from being built in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and North County.

See highlights of the Sunrise Powerlink intervenor compensation requests

The most prominent intervenor, the San Diego consumer group Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), asked for $1.2 million to cover fees for attorneys, experts, document preparation and travel from late 2005 through early 2009.

The commission also received requests for:

-- $797,673 from the Center for Biological Diversity.

-- $473,379 from the community group Rancho Penasquitos Concerned Citizens.

-- $257,617 from the Mussey Grade Road Alliance, represented by the husband and wife team of Joseph Mitchell and Diane Conklin of Ramona.

The Sierra Club teamed up with the Center for Biological Diversity to examine environmental issues associated with the power line but did not file for compensation.

If granted, the consumer group's award would be the largest compensation given to an intervenor since at least 1996, according to commission records. And the environmental groups' compensation would be third-highest since then.

The current record of $866,884 was awarded to The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco consumer group.

At the same time, the San Diego-based utility spent more than $125 million to promote its power line, and those costs will be passed on to ratepayers, said Jennifer Briscoe, a company spokeswoman.