I just heard from Laura Hunter, director of the National City-based Environmental Health Coalition’s Clean Bay Campaign. The coalition has been leading the opposition to a new South Bay Power Plant.
Hunter said Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox was doing the right thing in voicing her opposition to the new plant.
“This is exactly why we wanted the lease option stalled, because people’s minds change once the facts present themselves,” Hunter said. “This is how it should work, we get facts and adjust positions based on facts.”
At a news conference earlier today, Cox said she would support building a smaller power plant to meet the region’s peak demand. It should be built elsewhere in Chula Vista, she said, off of the bay front.
Hunter said building a smaller power plant — dubbed a “peaker” — should be studied.
“While peakers are less efficient, they impact a much smaller area,” Hunter said. “So if they’re properly sited, they won’t impact neighborhoods.”