Aug. 10--It may be just a formality, but the California Coastal Commission is scheduled this week to revisit its approval of a plan by Southern California Edison to build a small, natural gas-fired "peaker" power plant near Mandalay Beach.

The commission's approval in March of the plan to build the 45-megawatt plant to provide power during peak demand periods came over the objection of the Oxnard City Council, which a month later filed a lawsuit.

That case is slowly winding its way through the courts. Late last month, lawyers for Edison asked that the case -- filed in Ventura County Superior Court -- be moved outside the area.

As for the meeting this week in San Francisco, the Coastal Commission is scheduled to again approve the plan with some slight revisions. The hearing itself is not meant to be a chance to "re-argue the merits of the prior action," according to a staff report on the matter.

"They're not going back over everything again," said Chris Williamson, an Oxnard city senior planner. "But we will be writing a letter."

The city objected to construction of the plant on 16 acres at Mandalay Beach next to Reliant Energy's 430-megawatt plant, saying it violated zoning rules.

Oxnard officials also objected on "environmental justice" grounds, saying that the largely minority city already carried an undue burden of industrial development, including two coastal power plants.

Although commissioners said they would like to take into account environmental justice issues, they argued the law did not give them that kind of authority.

Edison officials could not be reached for comment but have argued the plant would support the frequently overburdened power grid.

They also have said that the ability to quickly fire up the small peaker plant makes it easier to use alternative power from things like wind and solar, which flows only when the wind blows or sun shines.

When the Coastal Commission approved the plan, it included a condition that requires Edison to pay $500,000 into an interest-bearing account to help provide public access and habitat restoration in the beach area.

At the commission's meeting Aug. 13 in San Francisco, Oxnard city officials don't plan to rehash points they've already made to the agency, Williamson said. But they will point out a few things that weren't discussed, including whether Edison will be able to get a permit for the water needed by the plant.

Larry Godwin, a south Oxnard resident and member of the Saviers Road Design Team neighborhood group, said he didn't expect anything but a routine approval of the commission's earlier decision on the peaker plant.

But Godwin said a recent rejection of a proposed expansion of a peaker plant in Chula Vista should hearten opponents here.

According to news accounts, the California Energy Commission rejected the Chula Vista plan and said Edison needed to consider using solar arrays as an alternative to gas turbines to generate power during peak demand.

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