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For Immediate Release
November, 03 2009, 11:28am EDT
Contact:
Rory Cox, California Program Director, Pacific
Environment, 415.399.8850 ext. 302
Shana Lazerow, Staff Attorney, Communities for a Better
Environment, 510.302.0430 x18
Bay Area Public Interest Groups Protest PG&E's Power Plant Proposals
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.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.
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.
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