Temecula-area residents prepare to fight proposed power line project

An above-ground power line project that would run through part of the Temecula area is facing pushback from residents.

The Golden Pacific Powerlink Project, proposed by San Diego Gas & Electric, would be 140 miles of 500-kilovolt high voltage transmission lines and tower structures that would run through Highway 79, Temecula Parkway, Temecula Creek and the Santa Margarita River.

SDG&E will host two virtual meetings this week to gather opinions from the public. They are set for noon and 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 14. Temecula city officials announced the sessions in a Facebook post.

SDG&E spokesperson Alex Welling said in a Monday, May 11, email that the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's energy grid, has identified a need for the project and that the California Public Utilities Commission will make the final decision.

"We recognize that proposals like this can raise questions in the community, and we take those concerns seriously," Welling wrote. "No final route has been selected, and all potential options will undergo a rigorous, multi-year environmental review to assess impacts. Community input is an essential part of that process."

Erica Martin, SDG&E's director of project development, said last month that the state will need to generate more power.

"And the generation doesn't do us any good unless we have those energy freeways, the transmission lines, to carry them from the places where it's generated to the places where people will use it."

More than 645 people signed up to attend the online meetings as of Monday, May 11, with sign-ups still open.

“This directly impacts our city,” Temecula city officials wrote in the post.

Temecula City Councilmember Brenden Kalfus commented on the post that he’s “against this project coming through Temecula and I will be more vocal about it in the near future.”

Another commenter, Sally Leimbach, of Temecula, compared the project to the once-proposed Liberty Quarry near Temecula.

“This reminds me of the fight to stop the Quarry - déjà vu!”

The city and residents fought against the construction of the massive open-pit mine near the city. Ultimately the Pechanga Band of Indians bought Pu'éska Mountain, where the project would have been located, on Nov. 15, 2012, ending the project. Tribal leaders said a quarry south of Temecula would have obliterated a sacred Luiseño creation site. The events led to Pechanga Pu'éska Mountain Day, now celebrated annually by the city, tribe and community.

Pechanga also is watching the power lines project.

"The Tribe has serious concerns about the proposed route's potential impacts to Pechanga’s ancestral cultural resources and the overall community,” Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Indians, said in an emailed statement Monday, May 11. “We are closely monitoring the proposal and expect our tribal government to be meaningfully consulted."

The proposal of the overhead power lines would connect SDG&E's Imperial Valley substation to a still-to-be-constructed substation where San Diego and Orange counties meet. The exact location, just north of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and Camp Pendleton, has not yet been released. Horizon West Transmission LLC would build the substation.

The price tag has not been released, but is expected before SDG&E formally files the project with the California Public Utilities Commission later this year.

SDG&E recently released a map showing a preliminary route for the Golden Pacific Powerlink. The utility proposes a route that runs north from the Imperial Valley substation, moving laterally through a chunk of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, heading into Riverside County near Temecula and then ending outside Camp Pendleton.

The Golden Pacific Powerlink is expected to use towers 150 to 200 feet tall to carry the power lines.

A Change.Org petition against the project was started by Cristina Bracamonte and has 491 signatures as of Monday.

“Living in the beautiful community of Temecula, my family and I have grown to cherish the unique charm and tranquility this area provides,” Bracamonte wrote in the petition. “However, there is a looming threat that could drastically alter the landscape, our community’s safety, and overall quality of life: the SDG&E proposal to construct electric towers through Temecula Creek along the Temecula Parkway corridor.”

She added that the project could cause health concerns, decrease property values, hurt the environment and add increase the risk of wildfires. Bracamonte urged SDG&E to explore “alternative routes that do not compromise the safety, environmental integrity and property values of our beloved community.”

Arlin Travis, a part-time resident of Temecula Valley Wine Country outside the city, expressed concerns Monday.

“The giant transmission towers on the south end of this valley are going to be the tallest things in the valley, and it’s just going to destroy property values in its path,” Travis said in a phone interview. “Now, when you go beyond you know, sort of my own personal interest … building high-voltage transmission in the back country, after the havoc that all those fires have caused in this state is foolhardy.”

A desert conservation group has also come out in opposition to where SDG&E wants the proposed 145-mile corridor to go. Officials at the Anza-Borrego Foundation, based in Borrego Springs, are also against the project.

Staff Writer Rob Nikolewski contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 3:56 PM.