TUSTIN : PUC to Be Asked to Review Substation

The Board of Supervisors this week voted to ask the state Public Utilities Commission to take the lead role in reviewing a proposed electrical substation in North Tustin.

“It’s out of our court. It’s in the PUC’s court,” said Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who represents the unincorporated area of North Tustin.

The substation would replace a temporary substation on a 3.8-acre site on 17th Street. The project has been opposed by some residents, who say that electromagnetic fields generated by the substation would create health hazards.

The supervisors have never before asked the commission to review a substation, according to County Counsel Dave Chaffee.

“This is the first time it has ever come up. Historically, (Southern California Edison Co.) has always bowed to the planning process of the county of Orange,” Chaffee said.

Edison officials said they agree with the county’s request and have made a similar request themselves.

“We’ve maintained all along that it was important to settle the jurisdictional question and this will help solve that issue,” company spokesman Brian Bennett said.

As part of an integrated, statewide electrical system, the substation falls under the jurisdiction of the state, Bennett said. But in the past, the company has not asked the Public Utilities Commission to review such proposals.

“This is sort of breaking new ground by asking them (the PUC) to be the lead agency in an environmental-review process,” Bennett said. “But the reason the company is supporting it is that we recognize that (electromagnetic fields) are a growing public problem that needs to be addressed.”

Whatever findings and standards are established by the PUC for the North Tustin substation might set the standard for other proposals in the state, Bennett said.

Officials from Edison and the county have disagreed about how extensive the environmental evaluation of the project should be.

“From the county’s point of view, we felt very strongly that to fully address this issue, we needed a full environmental impact report,” Stanton said.

Edison officials have said that an environmental impact report--more costly, lengthy and formal than a simple review--would slow the process, but Bennett said Edison is prepared to do as the state asks.

“We just want to establish that the Public Utilities Commission is the lead agency,” Bennett said.