2 tribes join firm for wind-energy project
SDG&E would buy electricity produced by 38 large turbines
By Chet Barfield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 4, 2004

A Texas company has signed contracts with two East County tribes to develop what would be the region's first wind-energy project to produce and sell electricity to SDG&E.

Superior Renewable Energy says it plans to erect at least 38 large wind turbines by 2006 on the Campo and Ewiiaapaayp reservations. Each three-blade turbine would be taller than a 20-story building and generate up to two megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 2,000 homes.

Pending approval by state and federal authorities, the $80 million project would create the nation's largest wind farm on Indian land, said Superior CEO John Calaway.

"We're really excited about it," Calaway said.

It is the Houston company's first project. Similar plans are in the works with tribes in New Mexico, Texas and three other states, Calaway said.

Superior has 20-year contracts with Campo and Ewiiaapaayp (pronounced WEE-ya-pye) under which the tribes would receive royalty payments from the electricity sale proceeds, Calaway said.

A purchase agreement between Superior and San Diego Gas & Electric is pending before the state Public Utilities Commission. It is expected to be approved as a consent item on Thursday's agenda, said SDG&E spokesman Ed Van Herik.

California utilities are under a commission mandate to obtain 20 percent of their power from renewable-energy sources by 2010. Commission documents put SDG&E's percentage at 4.4, a figure Van Herik confirmed.

"SDG&E has been very aggressive in pursuing resources of renewable energy for our customers, and this represents one of our more innovative efforts," he said of Superior's so-called Kumeyaay Project.

"We're pleased to be involved with the Indian tribes and with Superior Renewable Energy in bringing more clean energy to our customers," Van Herik said. "We believe the energy is competitively priced, and we look forward to supplying it to our customers."

Although Superior has separate contracts with the two tribes, the company considers the development one project with two phases.

The first phase involves erecting 25 turbines on a northern portion of the Campo reservation, about 55 miles east of San Diego. The turbines would be in a north-south line, stretching about 2∏ miles from Interstate 8 to Campo's boundary with the adjacent Manzanita reservation.

Construction could begin next summer, and the turbines could be producing power by December 2005, Calaway said.

The second phase, targeted for completion in 2006, calls for 13 to 15 turbines on the Ewiiaapaayp reservation. Ewiiaapaayp, about seven miles northwest of Campo, is accessible only by dirt road.

Each turbine consists of a tower 218 feet tall. Near the top are three blades, each 141 feet long. Electricity they produce would be run via underground lines to a transfer station at Campo and from there into SDG&E's transmission grid, Calaway said.

The Campo and Ewiiaapaayp reservations are well-situated for wind farming because of their location on the eastern ridges of the Cleveland National Forest, where the mountains begin to slope down toward the desert of Imperial County.

"You've got the thermal difference between the desert and the ocean," which creates lots of wind, Calaway said. "This is kind of the highest point before you spill off, so it's got a very excellent natural resource."

A San Diego firm has prepared a draft environmental assessment for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which must approve the tribal contracts. An environmental official in the bureau's Sacramento office said the report probably would be completed and distributed for public review within three months.

Calaway said the assessment identified no major hurdles.

"We're not disturbing any pristine areas or having any environmental impacts that we can see," he said, adding that wind-powered turbines offer a pollution-free source of electricity.

Campo tribal officials could not be reached for comment. Ewiiaapaayp Vice Chairman Michael Garcia said his tribe is enthusiastic about the project.

"It's not going to make us a whole lot of money; it just sounds like a good idea," Garcia said. "It's a renewable resource, and we're helping out with the energy situation."