I think the crowd was more like 300, full of green T-shirts and they had a successful march on the Cascade Theater.  Incredible organizing by all of the many Stop TANC groups involved.

It’s tired out… gotta be on a plane first thing, at “too early o’clock”…

200 attend anti-TANC rally

• By Record Searchlight staff
• Posted July 8, 2009 at 3:16 p.m.

Nearly 200 green-shirted “Stop TANC” activists this afternoon have filled a room at the Holiday Inn in Redding to oppose Transmission Agency of Northern California plans for a 600-mile long high-voltage power line through the north state.

Lisa Goza, a Round Mountain power line opponent who helped organize today’s rally, urged the crowd to attend the July 21 Redding City Council meeting to persuade city officials to follow the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and pull out of the TANC project.

Carol Overland, a Minnesota attorney who has litigated against proposed power plants and transmission lines, told power line opponents to keep fighting even though SMUD, one of the largest backers of the TANC power line, pulled the plug on its planning for the project.

“It’s not over,” Overland said. “You’ve got some breathing room now. When they are down, kick them, and kick them again. Don’t let up. Being nice doesn’t help. You’ve got to crank down and really kick these guys.”

Opponents of a proposed high-voltage transmission line attend a rally Wednesday afternoon at the Holiday Inn in Redding.

Les Baugh, Shasta County supervisor representing the south county, said the TANC power line proposal has been misconceived and poorly planned from the start.

“They didn’t have to do it this way,” Baugh said. “They were not trying to co-locate these lines. That would have been a simple answer.”

Power line opponents from Yolo, Glenn and Tehama counties joined property owners from Round Mountain, Oak Run, Happy Valley, Cottonwood and others potential in the proposed transmission line’s path.

Goza, the Round Mountain activist, said opposition won’t stop until TANC pulls the proposed line off the federal register and halts the planning process.

“We want them to cancel this project, just like they canceled our meeting,” Goza said, referring to TANC’s decision to postpone a planned outreach meeting that had been scheduled for this evening at the Cascade Theatre.

Power line opponents still plan to march later this afternoon from Redding City Hall to the Cascade Theatre, where activists say they will demonstrate to TANC they will continue demanding answers to their questions. The march starts at 4:30 p.m.

Baugh said he was disappointed TANC put off the meeting, and power line officials will not meet there with north state residents to answer questions.

“Had they held that meeting and I had an opportunity to ask a question, I would have asked them, how do you mitigate a life?” Baugh said.

And about SMUD’s withdrawal from the TANC project (which should TANK the project):

Agency Withdraws From Project

By Craig Macho
Staff Reporter
cmacho@oakdaleleader.com
209-847-3021, ext. 8128

POSTED  July 8, 2009 2 a.m.

The Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) was dealt a blow recently when the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) informed the transmission agency that it was withdrawing from the project.

TANC is a California Joint Powers Agency (JPA) composed of 15 cities and utility districts from throughout the Central Valley, Bay Area, and other locations in Northern California. Agency members include the cities of Alameda, Biggs, Gridley, Healdsburg, Lodi, Lompoc, Palo Alto, Redding, Roseville, Ukiah, the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Silicon Valley Power, and the Turlock Irrigation District (TID).

SMUD would have covered approximately 35 percent of the cost of the 600-mile long transmission line project.

Those who have homes, farms, and other property in the path of the proposed project have criticized TANC and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). Critics have noted the agencies, which have the power to seize land via eminent domain, solicited little public input prior to releasing maps of the proposed path of the transmission lines.

A number of Oakdale area residents have spoken out in opposition to the project. A grassroots movement has also recently formed in both the Oakdale and Ripon areas to challenge the transmission line project.

Over 150 local residents turned out June 11 at the Almond Pavilion banquet facility in Oakdale for an update of the controversial $1.3 billion project and the transmission agency’s plan to construct and upgrade roughly 600 miles of high-voltage electric transmission lines and associated facilities in Northern California.

Another meeting will be held in Ripon sometime later this month.

According to a press release from TANC, outreach meetings by the agency have been put aside for now.

“In light of this recent development, all remaining public outreach meetings on the TTP that are scheduled during the month of July will be postponed. This time will enable TANC and its members, the Western Area Power Administration (Western) and other government agencies involved in the planning process to evaluate their options and to define the next steps in the process,” the release stated.

“TANC believes it is important to keep the “public scoping” period open during this time. Allowing the scoping process to proceed will help determine where to put the transmission lines needed to ensure reliable and affordable electric service for the residents and businesses throughout northern California and to expand access to clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind energy,” the release concluded.

Sharon Ott, one of the organizers of the June 11 meeting in Oakdale, said she was pleased with the news SMUD had withdrawn. She continues to be concerned, however, of the project’s impact on the Oakdale area. She noted the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), a federal government transmission project, is still planning on using the Oakdale corridor to bring power from the Sierras to the Bay Area.

“We’ll continue with our opposition to WAPA,” she said.

The NYRI line in New York was turned down, PJM has eliminated the Indian River, DE to Salem, NJ segment of MAPP, and TANC is imploding before us!  YEAAAAA!

This week, SMUD pulled out of TANC.  What does that mean?  It means SMUD is paying attention to demand and financing, YEAAAAA, and it means that over 1/3 of the project’s $$$ is MIA, YEAAAA!!!!

From the Modesto Bee:

Power project gasping for cash

Partners don’t see survival without a $525M transfusion

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

One of the largest public works projects in the West, a 600-mile high-voltage power line from Lassen County to Turlock and the Bay Area, is on life support after its biggest player abruptly pulled the plug.

A magnet for opposition from landowners whose properties would be crossed by the power lines and environmental activists, the transmission line project was promoted as vital to the region’s clean energy future.

A consortium of municipal power providers said the power lines were needed to bring renewable solar, wind and geothermal energy from the northeast corner of the state to power-thirsty urban areas.

On Wednesday, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District said it was pulling out of the $1.5 billion project, leaving a gaping hole in the budget. SMUD was expected to shoulder 35 percent of the project’s costs.

The Transmission Agency of Northern California, the project’s sponsor, has 15 members. But just five had agreed to fund the project’s environmental impact studies and, if ultimately approved, finance the project.

The remaining participants are the city of Santa Clara, Redding Electric Utility, and the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts.

The Western Area Power Authority is a federal partner.

On Thursday, those partners grappled with questions about the project’s vitality.

Keeping the project alive means one or more of the remaining players would have to absorb SMUD’s $525 million share, or find a new partner to salvage the project, or even pieces of it, officials said.

Most of the staff and board members of the participating utilities contacted Thursday said they doubted the project will survive, despite the need for additional transmission capacity.

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It’s time to tank the TANC project.  I love the irony of beautiful shots of transmission lines, particularly where the media is finally getting it right:

“To be sure, it will be ugly.”

Yeah!  That’s a direct quote, see the article below…

This 600 mile long and $1.3 billion (somebody better put a new battery in that calculator, that estimate is WAY off) project has wrapped up every ugly aspect of transmission all in one (like almost every other project I’ve seen these days!).  Let’s see, yes, it will visually be butt ugly.  Landowners didn’t get reasonable notice.  It will have massive impact on environment, economics, and public health.  Oh, and need we mention, like the others, it’s not needed.  Look where it starts and guess how far it is from the nearest coal plants, online or on the drawing board.

Now notice all the back and forths, this isn’t just one line, each segment has at least two, if not three lines (their type gets in the way of ID’ing what’s planned.  CLICK HERE FOR THEIR MAP PAGE.

Heard enough?  Ready to do something about it?

PRE-MEETING RALLY

HOLIDAY INN — REDDING, CA

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 2:00 PM

then

PUBLIC MEETING WITH TANC:

CASCADE THEATRE – MARKET STREET

REDDING, CA

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 6:00 PM

ALL LANDOWNERS  ATTEND

Need more information:

Here’s the TANC site

Here’s WAPA’s TANC site

Here’s the STOP TANC site

*******************************************

From the Modesto Bee:

Big power line controversy

last updated: June 20, 2009 09:43:13 PM

The word “huge” aptly describes just about everything about the proposed electrical transmission line that would run from northeast California down the Central Valley into the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts and over to the Bay Area.

The 500-kilovolt line would stretch more than 600 miles, through more than a dozen counties and across thousands of privately-owned properties. The towers would stand up to 150 feet high. And the estimated cost starts at $1.3 billion, but likely will far exceed that.

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