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Valley Politicos Cagey About Future Power Plants

SAN JOSE, CA-With energy providers under fire and unreliable power sources the order of the day in Silicon Valley, area leaders say the problem is a future topic of discussion -- but aren't providing any specific plans for building new facilities.

By Allison Landa | Updated on January 24, 2001

SAN JOSE-Wednesday marked the ninth straight day of a “stage three” power emergency throughout the state of California, meaning that energy supplies are at critical lows. And with power providers Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison teetering on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of statewide deregulation, the situation isn’t likely to find easy resolution any time in the imminent future. Last Friday, the California Legislature adopted an emergency measure to bail out PG & E with $400 million in taxpayer dollars – but it is only a temporary fix.

It was this electrical crisis upon which the San Jose, Calif.-based power company Calpine Corp. was banking when they first proposed the Metcalf Energy Center for the Coyote Valley area of South San Jose. However, the plant was shot down by the San Jose City Council last November, a move fueled largely by the energy center’s would-be neighbor Cisco Systems’ vehement opposition to its industrial nature. Cisco is in the process of building its own hotly debated 688-acre Coyote Valley Research Park in the area, and claimed it was not properly zoned for a power plant. However, the center is still up for consideration before the California Energy Commission, which according to Calpine has the legal right to overrule the City Council’s objections.

“At this point, the state Energy Commission is holding hearings (on the issue),” San Jose public outreach manager Tom Manheim tells GlobeSt.com. “I don’t know that any (similar proposed projects) are in the Bay Area.”

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