The California Supreme Court denied the City of Jurupa Valley’s appeal of the California Public Utilities Commission’s decision on the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project. Given that the court denied review, the CPUC’s dismissal of Jurupa Valley’s complaint reaffirms an important limitation on the CPUC’s jurisdiction and protecting local control over municipal utilities.
The Riverside Transmission Reliability Project is a joint transmission project advanced by Riverside and Southern California Edison consisting of a 10-mile double-circuit 230kV transmission line, two 230 kV/69 kV substations, and five new 69kV sub-transmission line segments. The Project will improve regional grid reliability and, thus, traverses Riverside and surrounding communities, including Jurupa Valley. In preparing an environmental impact report to analyze the Project’s impacts under CEQA, Riverside acted as lead agency for the entire Project, with the CPUC serving as a responsible agency for SCE’s portion of the Project.
Last year, Best Best & Krieger successfully moved the CPUC to dismiss a complaint brought by Jurupa Valley against the City of Riverside and its city-owned utility in a dispute over a regional transmission project. Jurupa Valley had urged the CPUC to assert that the CPUC, and not Riverside, was the proper lead agency under the CEQA. The CPUC’s final decision granted Riverside’s motion to dismiss on the basis that the CPUC has only limited and well-defined jurisdiction over local agencies and municipally-owned utilities.
The California Supreme Court denied the City of Jurupa Valley’s appeal of the California Public Utilities Commission’s decision on the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project. Given that the court denied review, the CPUC’s dismissal of Jurupa Valley’s complaint reaffirms an important limitation on the CPUC’s jurisdiction and protecting local control over municipal utilities.
The Riverside Transmission Reliability Project is a joint transmission project advanced by Riverside and Southern California Edison consisting of a 10-mile double-circuit 230kV transmission line, two 230 kV/69 kV substations, and five new 69kV sub-transmission line segments. The Project will improve regional grid reliability and, thus, traverses Riverside and surrounding communities, including Jurupa Valley. In preparing an environmental impact report to analyze the Project’s impacts under CEQA, Riverside acted as lead agency for the entire Project, with the CPUC serving as a responsible agency for SCE’s portion of the Project.
Last year, Best Best & Krieger successfully moved the CPUC to dismiss a complaint brought by Jurupa Valley against the City of Riverside and its city-owned utility in a dispute over a regional transmission project. Jurupa Valley had urged the CPUC to assert that the CPUC, and not Riverside, was the proper lead agency under the CEQA. The CPUC’s final decision granted Riverside’s motion to dismiss on the basis that the CPUC has only limited and well-defined jurisdiction over local agencies and municipally-owned utilities.
- See more at: http://www.bbknowledge.com/environmental-law-natural-resources/supreme-court-denies-appeal-of-the-riverside-transmission-reliability-project-cpuc-decision/#sthash.sU9I7ezn.dpuf
