SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - November 3 - Two new large fossil fuel power plants, proposed by PG&E for Contra Costa County, are facing opposition by Bay Area public interest groups. In protest letters sent to the California Public Utilities Commission, the groups maintain that the power plants are unnecessary, will further pollute Contra Costa County, and are in violation of California’s clean energy policies.

Pacific Environment, Communities for a Better Environment, and Californians for Renewable Energy are spearheading a protest to demand that the CPUC deny PG&E’s application. The proposed power plants are slated for Antioch and Oakley.  Together, they would generate over 1,300 megawatts of dirty power in the Contra Costa County, which already has some of the worst air quality in the Bay Area.

“We simply do not need these power plants, and if they are built, they will decrease PG&E’s renewable energy portfolio,” said Rory Cox, California Program Director at Pacific Environment.  “This is a step in the wrong direction as we try to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.”

In the protest letter to the CPUC protesting PG&E’s application, Pacific Environment cites a study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), which shows that California needs to reduce its natural gas usage by 8,000 megawatts in order to meet the requirement to procure 33% of its energy by 2030 from renewable sources, in response to an Executive Order recently signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The study also finds that the state already has more fossil fuel generation than is currently needed to meet its energy demand. “California needs to take fossil fuels off the table, not put them back them on,” said Cox.

PG&E’s proposal is also in direct conflict with its own Environmental Leadership Protocol, which establishes the company’s commitment to exceed environmental protection standards. “Approval of these contracts in Contra Costa County would perpetuate a grave environmental injustice.  The county’s low income communities of color already host 14 power plants, which, in addition to many refineries and chemical companies, make the county the largest emitter of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide in the Bay Area,” said Shana Lazerow, an attorney at Communities for a Better Environment.

Previously, the CPUC demanded that PG&E include an assessment of whether the power plants will disproportionately impact low-income and minority communities. PG&E failed to include this assessment in their application.

A copy of Pacific Environment’s protest letter is available by request at rcox@pacificenvironment.org, or by calling 415.399.8850 x302.