Update: Public comments about this project can be sent to the California Public Utilities Commission anytime through October 7, 2024. You can use the online form at the bottom of this page to send your email.

On Wednesday, September 18, there will be a public meeting about the environmental impacts of a proposed new energy facility that will be built either on an orchard in Coyote Valley next to Coyote Creek, or at an existing PG&E substation. Please tell PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission to put this new energy facility on the existing PG&E substation site, not in Coyote Valley!

What’s Happening

A company called LS Power is planning a new energy transmission line that will connect PG&E’s Metcalf substation, just north of Coyote Valley, to another substation in downtown San Jose. LS Power has asked PG&E for permission to build the terminal facility for the transmission line right on the Metcalf substation property, which would be the simplest, cheapest, and least environmentally damaging location. But PG&E has refused to let the terminal be built at their substation, with the result that LS Power is instead proposing to build the terminal on a site in Coyote Valley over a mile away from the substation. LS Power would have to bulldoze the orchard currently on the site, dig a trench along nearly a mile of the Coyote Creek Trail, and bore a tunnel underneath Coyote Creek for the additional transmission line that would be needed to connect the terminal to the Metcalf substation. All of this would increase the cost of the transmission line – a cost that would be passed on to the public.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is holding a public meeting on September 18 to receive comments from the public about the environmental impacts of this energy transmission project. We’re asking the CPUC to require PG&E to allow the terminal to be built at the Metcalf substation, as LS Power has requested.

Why It Matters

The Coyote Valley orchard where LS Power is proposing to build the terminal is right next to Coyote Creek, which is the backbone of the wildlife corridor through Coyote Valley. Animals that depend on the creek corridor to be able to migrate from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Diablo Range will be subjected to noise, nighttime lighting, human activity, and other disturbances from the construction and operation of the energy facility. Instead of trees, the site will be covered with 6 acres of concrete and transmission towers up to 100 feet tall. In addition, the 1.2-mile-long additional transmission line that would be needed in order to connect the terminal to the Metcalf substation would dig up part of the Coyote Creek Trail and bore a tunnel underneath Coyote Creek.

Monterey Road, where this orchard site is located, is already a wildlife roadkill hotspot. The highest incidence of bobcats, badgers, coyotes, deer and other animals being killed by cars is right around this location, proving that animals are desperately trying to get across Monterey Road to the safety of Coyote Creek on the other side. Putting a 6-acre energy facility in the path of these animals will only make this problem worse.

The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (OSA) is working with Peninsula Open Space Trust to identify effective wildlife bridge or undercrossing locations in the area directly across Monterey Road from the hundreds of acres of open space land managed by OSA. Enabling wildlife passage here will prevent roadkill deaths and help animals get safely across Monterey Road. But that can’t happen unless PG&E allows the terminal to be built at the Metcalf substation, leaving the Monterey Road area free for further conversations and planning for functional crossings.

What You Can Do

Please attend the CPUC’s meeting (either in person or via Zoom), or email the CPUC and tell them to require PG&E to allow the terminal to be built at the Metcalf substation, as LS Power has requested.

Meeting information:
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Location: Santa Teresa Branch Library Community Room, 290 International Circle, San Jose, CA 95119
Zoom link: https://bit.ly/PSCVPScopingMtg
Phone: (888) 788-0099
Webinar ID: 893 0273 0565

If you are unable to attend the meeting in person or virtually, please email the CPUC using the form below. The CPUC’s deadline for comments is October 7, 2024.

Thank you for speaking up to protect Coyote Valley!