Environmental advocates are claiming victory in a two-year fight to keep an energy substation away from wildlife corridors in the stretches of open space south of San Jose known as Coyote Valley.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously March 19 to allow LS Power Grid California to construct a transmission line and terminals at the existing Metcalf substation, rather than building a new site in Coyote Valley between the Santa Cruz and Diablo mountain ranges. Advocates had warned building a new power substation could become an environmental hazard and threaten wildlife.
Alice Kaufman, policy and advocacy director of Green Foothills, said Coyote Valley is not the place for development.
“The development threats keep coming, and we do have to keep having this fight over and over again,” Kaufman told San José Spotlight. “What we really hope … is that we’re able to have Coyote Valley permanently protected for conservation.”
As part of the Power Santa Clara Valley HDVC Project, LS Power was chosen in March 2023 to build a high-voltage direct current transmission line and terminals to send power between downtown San Jose and Coyote Valley. The project aims to improve grid reliability, boost electric capacity and provide better access to low-cost energy.
Officials proposed a new substation on a 14-acre orchard between Metcalf Road and Bailey Avenue when PG&E was initially unable to accommodate LS Power at its Metcalf substation. The location borders proposed wildlife crossings along Highway 101, Monterey Road and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Casey Carroll, senior vice president of energy infrastructure development for LS Power, said he appreciates PG&E being able to be flexible and make some adjustments. LS Power will be able to move forward with its project at the Metcalf substation with a reduced footprint. The project is expected to break ground in a few weeks.
“As we electrify homes, transportation and rely more and more on clean energy, we need to build out that infrastructure to support the growing energy demand,” Craig Degenfelder, vice president of major projects at PG&E, told San José Spotlight. “But how and where it’s built matters just as much as what we’re building.”
Degenfelder said the project will improve reliability and increase transmission capacity in the South Bay by about 1 gigawatt — enough to power about 750,000 homes.
“This is how we balance energy needs with environmental conservation,” he said.
California created the 17,200-acre Coyote Valley Conservation Program Area in 2019, which includes natural and rural landscape at the narrowest point between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo range. The valley floor provides a critical landscape linkage between the mountain ranges for wildlife, allowing for healthy populations.
Renowned for its scenic beauty, Coyote Valley is home to mountain lions, bobcats, tule elk, deer, gray foxes, American badgers and coyotes. It is a vital habitat for threatened species such as California red-legged frogs, California tiger salamanders, steelhead trout and Bay checkerspot butterflies.
Coyote Valley protects communities from flooding, provides healthy food and clean drinking water and open space to recreate and connect with nature, Andrea Mackenzie, general manager of Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, said. The group helped the power companies and environmentalists find a solution everyone could agree on.
“California is on a fast trajectory to be a clean energy economy and state,” Mackenzie told San José Spotlight. “It’s also putting tremendous effort and funding behind statewide conservation of biodiversity and wildlife connectivity. We can have both.”
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.