By Miriam Raftery March 12, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) — East County residents opposed to Sempra Energy’s Sunrise Powerlink project are mobilizing opposition to President Barack Obama’s nomination of David Hayes as deputy director of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Hayes served as Deputy Director of the department during the Clinton Administration, but later went to work for the lobbying firm Latham & Watkins representing Sempra Energy and SDG&E. The Interior Department oversees Bureau of Land Management properties that Powerlink is slated to cross in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley and other areas of San Diego’s East County. A vote is expected Thursday in the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. (See http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=About.Members for a list of committee members and their contacts.)
The high-voltage power line project has generated massive opposition here in a region that has suffered the worst wildfires in California history. An environmental impact report found Powerlink will pose a serious fire risk and that the fire danger cannot be mitigated. Last week, Lakeside’s fire chief testified that firefighting planes could be unable to scoop water from the El Capitan Reservoir if Powerlink is built.
Four California Public Utilities Commissioners appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved the project at the Governor’s urging, even though two administrative law judges found the project unnecessary to meet our region’s energy needs.
In a letter to President Obama dated March 10th, Ramona resident Diane Conklin wrote, “Mr. Hayes lobbied for Sempra Energy and San Diego Gas & Electric Company on transmission issues. SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink transmission project was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission last December despite the company’s refusal to dedicate any portion of the line for renewable energy. SDG&E threatened not to build the line rather than accept an alternate decision to condition a portion of the line for renewables. ..Now the line is not guaranteed to carry renewable energy and, in fact, may carry LNG-generated electricity from a Sempra Mexican generation plant, across the border from San Diego County and fueled by the newly built LNG facility in Baja, Mexico, just north of Ensenada.”
Conklin, who heads the Mussey Grade Road Alliance, added, “As a citizen intervenor, I faced Latham & Watkins during the proceeding and know that they are not concerned with our concerns on the ground. Our issue is wild land fires ignited by power lines. SDG&E’s power lines ignited three such fires in the 2007 Firestorm. We brought the issue to the Commission months before that event and our intervention resulted in the Commission looking at power line fires for the first time in its history and dedicating some 300 pages of the EIR to the subject. Nevertheless the approval of this $2 billion transmission line, instead of the use of safer rooftop photo voltaic energy combined with some conventional generation, if necessary (the top two alternatives in the EIR), means that we in sunny San Diego County may never see renewable energy in the foreseeable future.”
Conklin urged Obama to reconsider the appointment, adding, “It is hard for me, a supporter of yours whose Obama bumper sticker is one of only three I have seen in my rural town of some 35,000 in the center of San Diego County, to understand how this is change. This appointment will mean that big energy business will operate as business as usual, but under the unearned umbrella of renewable energy."
Michael Pinto, founder and chairman of the Laguna Canyon Foundation, had this to say about Hayes in a letter he wrote to Obama. “Mr. Hayes has been on the wrong side of history as a lobbyist for Sempra Energy and San Diego Gas & Electric Company on transmission issues. The lobbying and public relations in support of the Powerlink has been a fabric of lies, so much so that the presiding administrative law judge recommended denial of their application, saying the line was not needed and that there were many better alternatives to meeting the energy needs of San Diego. During the CPUC hearings, SDG&E claimed their proposed Surnrise Powerlink was to carry renewable energy, but when they were asked to guarantee that renewable energy was to be carried on the line, they said if that were a requirement for approval, they would not build the Powerlink. Mr. Hayes’ activities on behalf of SDG&E/Sempra was at the heart of this and his confirmation to deputy secretary of the Interior department would send a very bad message to those of us that have worked so hard for the vision of a sustainable energy future for our country."
According to a March 10 article at Politico.com, Hayes has not personally lobbied the Department of the Interior in over two years. But filings released Monday reveal he continued representing companies with business before the Department. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18128.html. Hayes, a lawyer, represented a wide array of energy concerns, manufacturing firms and advocacy groups with vested interests in the work of the Interior Department. Politico’s research reveals that Hayes was paid more than $2 million last year for his legal work at the lobbying law firm Latham & Watkins, where he was the partner in charge of its Environment, Land and Resources Department.
Over the next 10 years, Hayes will receive fixed payments from his retirement account with the firm, according to the filing. Hayes joined the firm in 2001 and resigned from the job at the end of last year. If confirmed for a second stint as Deputy Director of Interor, he’ll have to tread carefully to avoid running afoul of Obama’s strict revolving door prohibitions