Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Town concedes that PG&E can build substation without permits

Neighbors hire an attorney to handle battle with PUC

Council still plans a hearing

By Clarence Cromwell

PG&E doesn't need a conditional-use permit from the town of Los Gatos to build the proposed Vasona Substation, Los Gatos has conceded.

But residents can still tell the council their concerns at an Aug. 18 public hearing.

The town had hoped to force PG&E, through the permit process, to deal with neighbors' concerns about noise and the appearance of the station. Planning Director Lee Bowman insisted on the permit after PG&E announced plans for the substation at Lark Avenue and Winchester Boulevard, but now the town has backed off from the demand.

Instead, the Town Council will hold the public hearing and let PG&E know what Los Gatans think.

"We thought there ought to be some kind of public hearing," Benjamin said.

Town Attorney Orry Korb explained that he examined the PUC ruling pertaining to local authority over utility substations and found that Los Gatos cannot make PG&E follow local codes. Korb said the PUC retains control over the process because cities would reject virtually all utility installations otherwise.

Korb added that the California PUC requires the utility to "consult" with the town before the station can be approved. But the PUC doesn't define what "consult" means.

PUC Energy Division Supervisor John Dutcher said the PUC wants to know Los Gatans' views. Any correspondence regarding the Vasona Substation will be added to the PUC's files and will be reviewed by the administrative law judge deciding on the application. Dutcher said residents can send a letter to the PUC in addition to commenting at the council's public hearing.

Ann Burns, who led the charge against the town's compressed natural-gas filling station near PG&E's site, said in a phone interview that neighbors will be just as well-organized in their fight against the Vasona Substation. She added that anti-substation neighbors have attorneys dealing with the PUC.

Burns and other neighbors have raised a number of issues, most related to safety. Burns said she believes the facility could start a fire if sparks jumped to nearby foliage or shake roofs, that oil in the transformers might pose a danger if released in an accident and that electromagnetic fields generated by the facility may pose a health risk to nearby residents. Additionally, neighbors have questions about outdoor lighting and noise from the facility and about its appearance.

PG&E maintains that the site is not a hazard and would not cause noise or lighting problems. An informational flier sent to neighbors in January states that containment ponds will prevent oil from running off the site if a spill occurs. The flier also states that the transformers would not be audible over noise from the surrounding area and that the outdoor lighting would be dimmer than streetlights in the area.

Blakey said neither science nor medicine has revealed a conclusive link between electromagnetic fields and illness. Nevertheless, he said, the company builds substations with extra space-buffers that prevent electric fields from reaching people nearby.

The station is needed in Los Gatos, and the land near Lark and Winchester is the best site, PG&E spokesperson Scott Blakey said.

"You have to understand that, as a company, we don't go around the countryside throwing these things up. The reason it's needed is demand is exceeding capacity.

"New factories coming on line; new businesses coming on line and new residences coming on line have chewed up all our reserve capacity," Blakey said.

For more information, or to find out how to register an opinion with the PUC, call 415/973-5530. The Town Council's public hearing is set for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18 in the Town Council Chambers, 110 E. Main St.

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