Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review of the proposed construction of San Diego Gas and Electric's (SDG&E) Artesian 230kV Substation Expansion Project (Proposed Project). An application for this project was submitted to the CPUC on August 17, 2016 (Application A.16-08-010). This site provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review process.
Introduction
SDG&E, in its CPUC application (A.16-08-010), filed on August 17, 2016, requests a permit to construct to expand and relocate the existing Artesian Substation to enable the addition of a 230/69kV yard. The Proposed Project (see Location Map) would be located in the western portion of San Diego County, with elements within both the city and unincorporated county of San Diego, California. The Proposed Project would involve work within developed residential and commercial areas within existing rights of way, franchise position (along city/county roadways), and SDG&E fee-owned property, pursuant to CPUC General Order (GO) 131-D. In addition to the expansion of the Artesian Substation the Proposed Project includes modifications at the existing Bernardo and Rancho Carmel Substations and reconductoring (transmission line replacement) of approximately 2.2 miles of existing power lines. The application includes the Proponents Environmental Assessment (PEA) prepared pursuant to Rule 2.4 of the CPUC's Rules of Practice and Procedure.
The purpose of this Proposed Project is to ensure the availability of safe and reliable electrical service and to provide additional capacity to serve long-term forecasted electrical demand requirements in the Electrical Needs Area (ENA), while also maintaining or improving system reliability and providing greater operational flexibility. The Artesian 230kV Substation Expansion, along with the proposed reconductoring, are required to meet mandatory North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability criteria, mitigate existing and projected NERC thermal violations (Category P1 NERC Violations) in the Poway Area Load Pocket and to alleviate the existing 69kV congestion at the Sycamore Canyon Substation. The Poway Area Load Pocket, which includes five 69/12 kV distribution substations* located in the Poway, 4S Ranch, Rancho Peñasquitos, Carmel Mountain Ranch and Black Mountain Ranch Communities, is expected to grow by as much as 15 percent over the next 10 years.
Environmental Review
The CPUC has prepared a Final Mitigated Negative Declaration (Final MND) to evaluate the environmental effects of the SDG&E Artesian Substation Project. The table below shows milestones and anticipated dates associated with the environmental review process.
| Project Milestones as of April 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Milestone | Date |
| Application and PEA submitted by SDG&E | August 17, 2016 |
| Application Deemed Complete | March 1, 2017 |
| Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (Published) | February 9, 2018 |
| Public Comment Period | February 9, 2018 - March 12, 2018 |
| Publication of Final MND | March 22, 2019 |
| CPUC Approval of Proposed Project | July 15, 2019 |
| Beginning of Construction | September 2019 |
| Anticipated End of Construction | August 2021 |
Availability of the Public Draft IS/MND
Copies of the public draft IS/MND are available for public review at the libraries identified below and on this project website.
4S Ranch Branch Library |
Rancho Bernardo Library |
Carmel Mountain Library |
Documents Available for Review
Comments on the Draft IS/MND were submitted to the CPUC during the public review period ending on March 12, 2018. The public comments and CPUC's responses to the comments received are presented in Section 2 of the Final MND. The Final MND was published on March 22, 2019. The conclusions of the Draft IS/MND remain unchanged in the Final MND; the proposed Project would not have a significant effect on the environment.
Final MND (March 22, 2019)
Final MND Appendices
Notice of Intent (NOI) (February 9, 2018)
Public Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) (February 9, 2018)
IS/MND Appendices (Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C)
Mitigation Monitoring Reporting and Compliance Program
The SDG&E Application for a Permit to Construct (PCT) and the PEA for the proposed Artesian 230 kV Substation Expansion Project can be found here:
SDG&E PTC Application (August 17, 2016) (1.69 mb)
Part A Artesian PEA (20.5 mb)
Part B Artesian PEA Technical Appendices (67.5 mb)
CPUC PEA Deficiency Letter (September 16, 2016)
SDG&E Deficiency Response (October 14, 2016)
CPUC PTC Application Completeness Letter (March 1, 2017)
CPUC Approval of Proposed Project can be found here: Decision 19-07-007 (July 15, 2019)
SDGE Request for Notice to Proceed with Construction can be found here: NTP Request #1 (July 25, 2019)
Notice to Proceed with Construction approval letter can be found here: NTP-1 Approval (September 18, 2019)
SDG&E Minor Project Refinement (MPR) #1 Request (October 4, 2019)
CPUC MPR #1 Response (October 30, 2019)
SDG&E Minor Project Refinement (MPR) #2 Request (April 2, 2020)
CPUC MPR #2 Response (April 9, 2020)
SDG&E Minor Project Refinement (MPR) #3 Request (June 12, 2020)
CPUC MPR #3 Response (June 16, 2020)
SDG&E Minor Project Refinement (MPR) #4 Request (October 8, 2020)
CPUC MPR #4 Response (October 15, 2020)
MPR Request #5 Approval (October 27, 2020)
SDG&E Noise Plan 1 (June 5, 2020)
CPUC Approval Noise Plan 1 (June 9, 2020)
SDG&E Noise Plan 2 (August 14, 2020)
CPUC Approval Noise Plan 2 (August 14, 2020)
SDG&E Nighttime Noise and Nuisance Reduction Plan (November 9, 2020)
CPUC Approval Nighttime Noise Plan (December 1, 2020)
MPR Request #6 Approval (November 18, 2020)
MPR Request #7 Approval (November 18, 2020)
MPR Request #8 Approval (December 29, 2020)
MPR Request #9 Approval (January 27, 2021)
SDGE Nighttime Noise Plan 4 (February 2021)
CPUC Approval for Nighttime Noise Plan 4 (February 23, 2021)
MPR Request #10 Approval (March 10, 2021)
SDGE Nighttime Noise Plan 5 (March 4, 2021)
CPUC Approval Nighttime Noise Plan 5 (April 5, 2021)
Data Requests, Responses and Attachments
Data Request #01 (March 1, 2017)
Data Request #01 Responses (March 24, 2017)
Attachment Q2a Project Impact Summary Table
Attachment Q2b GIS
Attachment Q3 Artesian Substation Site Plan
Attachment Q10 Access Road Metrics Table
Data Request #02 Attachment (April 10, 2017)
Data Request #03 (April 25, 2017)
Data Request #03 Artesian Informal (May 1, 2017)
Data Request #03 Data Request
Data Request #03 Responses
Attachment Q2 Artesian Substation Site Plan Aerial
Attachment Q5 Micropile Construction and Equipment
Data Request #04 (May 31, 2017)
Attachment Q1 Updated Detailed Route Map
Attachment Q5 Updated PEA Table
Data Request #5 Response response part 1 (June 20, 2017)
Data Request #5 Response response part 2 (June 23, 2017)
Attachment Q5 Aquatics Summary Report (June 22, 2017)
For Additional Information
The CPUC, through its Environmental Review Team, is managing the environmental review of the Proposed Project. To request additional information, or to be added to the mailing list please contact us by email or phone, as follows:
Project email:
ArtesianSub@esassoc.com
Project voicemail: (619) 719-4186
The CPUC’s Project Manager is:
Patricia Kelly
California Public Utilities Commission
Infrastructure Planning and CEQA, Energy Division
300 Capitol Mall, 4th Floor
Sacramento, California 95814
Tel.: (916) 210-1825
Formal Comment Mailing Address:
California Public-Utilities Commission
Attn: Artesian/ Julie Watson
c/o Environmental Science Associates
1425 N. McDowell Blvd. Ste. 200
Petaluma, CA 94954