Judge Lets Power Flow From Mexico

Sempra Energy and InterGen may continue to send electricity from new power plants in Mexico to the U.S. for at least another year, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez in San Diego on Tuesday refused a request by the Border Power Plant Working Group and other environmental organizations that sought to revoke permits that allow power to be transmitted from plants in Mexicali, Mexico, to the U.S. power grid in California.

Energy companies have turned to Mexico, where environmental laws are less stringent, to build plants to supply California, which suffered power shortages in 2000 and 2001. InterGen, owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Bechtel Group Inc., exports 560 megawatts of electricity from its La Rosita plant and Sempra sells 600 megawatts from its Termoelectrica de Mexicali plant. One megawatt is enough power for 800 homes.

“We think it’s a very logical and supportable decision,” said Michael Niggli, president of Sempra Energy Resources, the company’s power generation unit. Sempra’s Mexicali plant began test runs in February and is currently at full operation, he said.

The environmental groups sued the Energy Department last year, claiming U.S. authorities violated federal laws when it issued permits. In May, Gonzalez ruled that the agency didn’t adequately evaluate the effect the power lines would have on the border region’s air and water quality.

Gonzalez’s latest ruling gives the Energy Department a year to conduct further analysis.

Shares of San Diego-based Sempra, the largest U.S. natural-gas utility, fell 52 cents to $28 on the New York Stock Exchange. Royal Dutch/Shell is Europe’s largest oil company. Privately held Bechtel is based in San Francisco.