County Supervisor Dianne Jacob is demanding answers from regulators on how San Diego Gas & Electric entered protected eagle nesting areas while constructing the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line.
The California Public Utilities Commission has found that SDG&E helicopters violated golden eagle no fly zones three times in January. The company says no birds were injured. SDG&E entered no fly zones last year too. SDG&E equipped its helicopters with GPS devices following those incidents to prevent future violations. Now Jacob wants regulators to explain why those devices failed.
“The PUC must hold SDG&E accountable and so far that has not happened…so once again, I am asking the commission to do its job," Jacob said.
SDG&E says its efforts to comply with the eagle buffer zone are unprecedented and that while the technology it’s using is valuable, there are limitations.
