Oxnard City Council denies Edison appeal on mini power plant
Southern California Edison was again given the thumbs down this week by Oxnard officials, who rejected the company’s plan to build a mini power plant at Mandalay Beach.
The company is building four other 45-megawatt “peaker” plants -- in Norwalk, Ontario, Stanton and Rancho Cucamonga -- as part of a state-mandated program to boost capacity and avoid outages during peak usage periods.
The Oxnard City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday night to deny the company’s appeal of an earlier decision by the city Planning Commission. Dean Maulhardt, mayor pro tem, left the meeting before the vote was taken.
Although stating that the city has a long-standing relationship with the utility giant, the council ultimately decided that two existing power plants near the city’s shoreline were enough.
“We think that area can really benefit from the peaker.... It was unfortunate that they didn’t agree with us,” said Michelle Nuttall, an Edison project manager.
Edison sought permission to build its $50-million natural gas-powered plant next to the 450-megawatt Reliant Energy plant at Mandalay Beach. Reliant also owns a 1,500-megawatt plant at Ormond Beach.
Nuttall said Edison had not decided whether to take its case to the California Coastal Commission or to consider alternate locations.
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