HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-20; City Council; 20007; Prohibiting power generation facilities in areasCITY OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL 17
AB#
MTG.
DEPT.
20.007
10/20/2009
PLN
INTRODUCE AND ADOPT URGENCY
ORDINANCE NO. CS-067 PROHIBITING
EXPANSION OR LOCATION OF
THERMAL ELECTRIC POWER
GENERALIZATION FACILITIES WITHIN
THE COASTAL ZONE PENDING
STUDIES AND CHANGES IN THE
GENERAL PLAN AND ZONING
ORDINANCES AND OTHER LAND
USES REGULATIONS
DEPT. HEAD
CITY ATTY.
CITY MGR.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Introduce and Adopt Urgency Ordinance CS -067 by a majority vote of the City
Council, pursuant to CS-009 and Government Code sections 65858 and 36937 prohibiting
expansion or location of thermal electric power generation facilities in the Coastal Zone pending
studies and changes in the General Plan and Zoning Ordinances and adopt Resolution No.
2009-263 declaring the City Council's intention to have staff study and recommend
revisions to the General Plan, Local Coastal Plan, Zone Code, and Specific Plan 144 and any
other planning regulations as necessary regarding appropriate locations for thermal electric
power generation facilities within the City.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
Carlsbad Energy Center LLC (Applicant) filed an Application for Certification with the California
Energy Commission (CEC) on September 14, 2007, to construct and operate the proposed
Carlsbad Energy Center Project (CECP), a 558-megawatt (MW) gross combined-cycle thermal
electric power generating facility configured with two Siemens SCC6-5000F natural-gas power
blocks. The Application proposes to build the CECP at the existing Encina Power Station
(EPS) in the City of Carlsbad, California. Each power block would contain among other things,
an air intake (55 feet tall), heat recovery steam generator (88 feet tall) and emissions smoke
stack (139 feet tall). On October 24, 2007, the Energy Commission received a supplement to
the CECP Application for Certification (AFC) providing more detailed information on the project,
and on October 31, 2007, the Energy Commission found that the CECP AFC was data
adequate. The AFC is currently under review by the CEC.
The CECP is proposed to be sited on a 32-acre parcel located on the northeast section of the
95-acre Encina Power Station site, located along the western, coastal border of the City of
Carlsbad, adjacent to Interstate 5. The proposed site is currently occupied by the EPS tank
farm, including above-ground fuel oil Tanks 5, 6, and 7.
DEPARTMENT CONTACT: Don Neu 760-602-4601, don.neu@carlsbadca.gov
FOR CITY CLERKS USE ONLY.
COUNCIL ACTION: APPROVED
DENIED
CONTINUED
WITHDRAWN
AMENDED
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D
D
D
D
CONTINUED TO DATE SPECIFIC
CONTINUED TO DATE UNKNOWN
RETURNED TO STAFF
OTHER -SEE MINUTES
D
D
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D
As proposed by the CECP, these fuel oil tanks would be demolished and removed, and the soil
upon which the tanks currently stand would be remediated, as appropriate. The EPS has been
in operation since the early 1950's and periodically expanded. EPS Units 1, 2, and 3, (circa
1950 steam boilers that provided the initial electrical generation) would be permanently retired
once the CECP is approved and operational. EPS Units 4 and 5, part of the subsequent EPS
expansion that occurred in the late 1970's, would continue generating electricity.
Trre Encina Power Station is located in the Public Utilities Zone established in 1971. This zone
was intended to provide for certain public utility and related uses and applied to the EPS and
surrounding properties then owned by San Diego Gas and Electric, as well as other properties
in Carlsbad. The Encina Power Station is also included in Specific Plan 144 which sets forth the
existing land uses and land use regulations applicable to the area of Carlsbad. This Specific
Plan includes the Agua Hedionda Lagoon and certain areas near the lagoon and incorporates
the Encina Power Station Precise Development Plan 00-02(B)(PDP 00-02(6) while maintaining
the conditions and regulations of previous Specific Plan amendments A-H. Specific Plan 144
was originally adopted in the City of Carlsbad by Ordinance 92-79 on August 3, 1971 and was
most recently amended in 2009 Specifc Plan 144(J). The purpose of this Specific Plan was to
provide rules and regulations for the orderly development of 680-acres of land located east of
the Pacific Ocean and south of the north shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, and north of
what is now Cannon Road, and provide design and development guidelines for the expansion
of the power plant, then owned by San Diego Gas and Electric Company.
The General Plan designation establishing a Public Utilities (U) classification was created in
1974 and subsequently applied to the EPS, which is located within the Agua Hedionda Lagoon
segment of the City's Certified Local Coastal Plan. The existing EPS has a daily need for up to
hundreds of millions of gallons of once-through cooling ocean water to operate the plant and
generate electricity. Although the proposed CECP would use evaporative air cooling
technology, substantially diminishing the daily need for large quantities of once-through cooling
seawater, it has proposed to supply its facility needs through the development of a stand alone
desalination plant. The City has provided comments to the Regional Water Quality Control
Board stating that the CECP's decision to pursue a desalination plant prolongs the
environmental concerns associated with ocean water cooling for power plants, is contrary to
numerous state agency policies, and based upon the proposed volumes of desalination,
triggers additional project review as prescribed by the Federal Clean Water Act.
With advances in power generation technology, thermal electric power generation facilities are
no longer coastal-dependent. In light of existing technology for the generation of electrical
energy which no longer requires vast quantities of ocean water for cooling, the propriety of
locating thermal electric power generation facilities along the coast is questionable.
After extensive review, the City Council has concluded that construction of a second coastal
power plant will have significant adverse effects on the environment including the addition of air
pollutants and noxious emissions to the environment affecting the health, safety and welfare of the
citizens of Carlsbad and its environs. In addition, the proposed CECP will create a significant
adverse visual impact and will exacerbate the existing power plant's blight on the community.
The construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the Encina Power Station will negatively
affect the fish and wildlife ecosystem of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, which is designated by the
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state of California as one of nineteen protected lagoons. The expansion of the Encina Power
Station will require increased fossil fuel use and expose the citizens of Carlsbad to additional
environmental risks. Construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the Encina Power Station
would be prejudicial to other proposed nearby land uses, the majority of which are not industrial. It
would also defeat the goals of the South Carlsbad Coastal Redevelopment Plan, chief among
which is the goal to reduce/remove blight.
Recognizing that thermal-electric power generation facilities are no longer coastally dependent,
and considering the substantial negative impacts that these types of facilities have on the
environment, particularly to the ocean and lagoons, staff is proposing that all properties within the
Coastal Zone currently zoned PL) be studied and that new zoning and General Plan
designations and Local Coastal Plan provisions be proposed which would not allow thermal
power generation facilities which are not coastal dependent in the Coastal Zone. The proposed
study would include recommendations for revisions to Specific Plan 144 and Precise
Development Plan 00-02(6) for the Encina Power Station and other planning regulations, as
necessary.
MORATORIUM
Government Code section 65858 permits the City Council to adopt an interim ordinance
prohibiting the expansion or location of thermal electric power generation facilities in the
Coastal Zone which may be in conflict with a contemplated General Plan, Specific Plan, or
Zoning proposal that the City Council is considering or studying or intends to study within a
reasonable time. Pursuant to CS-009, the urgency ordinance requires a majority vote of the City
Council. The urgency ordinance will be effective for 45 days, and may be extended after notice
in a public hearing for an additional 10 months and 15 days and thereafter could be extended
for an additional one year. Government Code section 36937, which would be applicable to Title
21 regulations for the location of gas and electric utility facilities, provides for the immediate
adoption of an ordinance when necessary for the preservation of the health and safety of the
public.
The prohibition on the expansion or location of thermal electric power generation facilities in the
Coastal Zone would reinforce the City's objection to the proposed plant and could prevent the
proposed CECP expansion in the Coastal Zone until the City Council can formulate new
General Plan, Local Coastal Plan, Zone Code, Specific Plan, and Precise Development Plan
regulations that are in the best interest of the public health, welfare, and safety, with regard to
location of such facilities. The City Council's adoption of the urgency ordinance would provide
an opportunity to study the issues and recommend a position for the location of a thermal
electric power generation facility within the City along with any General Plan, Zone Code,
Specific Plan or other amendments necessary to implement those recommendations.
Attached for the City Council's consideration is Urgency Ordinance No. rs-ofi? for
introduction and adoption, giving legal affect to that determination. Following the adoption of
this ordinance, the City Council shall hold a public hearing on December 1, 2009 _ to consider
extending the ordinance for up to ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days pursuant to Government
Code section 65858(a). The City Clerk is directed to notice the hearing as required by
Government Code section 65090.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There will be substantial expenditures of staff time in drafting the proposed General Plan and
Zone Code amendments. Staff will prepare a budget and project schedule and will return to
Council for further direction and authorization.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
The adoption of the proposed Ordinance and Resolution of Intention will authorize staff to study
and gather information regarding appropriate locations for thermal electric power generation
facilities and locate the appropriate zoning within the City, and as such, is statutorily exempt
from environmental review at this time per section 15262 of the California Environmental
Quality Act. Any subsequent revisions to the urgency ordinance will require environmental
review and analysis.
EXHIBITS:
1. Urgency Ordinance cs-oe?
2. Resolution of Intention 2009-263
ORDINANCENO. CS-0671
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
2 CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING AN
3 URGENCY ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE
EXPANSION OR LOCATION OF THERMAL
4 ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION FACILITIES
WITHIN THE COASTAL ZONE PENDING STUDIES
5 AND CHANGES IN THE GENERAL PLAN AND
ZONING ORDINANCES AND OTHER LAND USE
6 REGULATIONS.
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WHEREAS, the Public Utility Zone was established and created in
1971; and
10 WHEREAS, that zone has not been studied or substantially amended
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since that time; and
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WHEREAS, the General Plan designation establishing a public utilities
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land use classified "U" was established October 15, 1974 and has not been
substantially reviewed or amended since that time ; and
WHEREAS, the City needs additional time to comprehensively study
both the General Plan designation and Public Utilities Zone in order to determine
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whether or not, due to the passage of time and advances in technology, existing
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standards are no longer appropriate or sufficient to protect the health, safety and
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welfare of its citizens; and21
WHEREAS, public utilities, without distinction between electrical
energy generation, gas generation, water utilities, treatment of waste water
processing and disposal utilities and other public utilities are permitted within that
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by ordinance and none of these uses are a conditional use within that designation;
designation upon approval of a Precise Development Plan or similar actions adopted
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and
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5 WHEREAS, the Agua Hedionda Local Coastal Plan (LCP) was
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WHEREAS, the San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E)
constructed the existing Encina Power Station ("EPS") in approximately 1952 and
prior to the General Plan designation establishing a public utilities land use and
implementing zone; and
adopted in 1982 which pertained to the properties then owned by SDG&E including
the EPS; and
WHEREAS, the LCP contains numerous regulations and restrictions
which impact the EPS site and other properties within the LCP that may be impacted
by uses at the EPS site including those regulations and restrictions related to public
access, land use, building height, recreation, agriculture, aquaculture, visual impacts
and uses of the lagoon; and
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WHEREAS, since its adoption, the Agua Hedionda LCP has not been
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comprehensively updated; and
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WHEREAS, in 1999, SDG&E sold a significant portion of its holdings
within Specific Plan 144 to Cabrillo Power LLC, now known as the Carlsbad Energy
Center LLC, including the EPS and outer, middle, and inner basins of the Agua
Hedionda Lagoon; and
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WHEREAS, the Carlsbad Energy Center LLC ("Applicant") filed a
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Notice of Intention on September 14, 2007 with the California Energy Commission
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("CEC") for the development of the proposed Carlsbad Energy Center Project
("CECP"), a 558-megawatt (MW) gross combined-cycle power generating facility
which will require an additional 32 acres of land as an expansion of the EPS; and
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5 WHEREAS, at the time the existing EPS was established it required a
6 daily need for hundreds of millions of gallons of once-through cooling ocean water
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to operate the plant and generate electricity; and
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WHERAS, with current technology thermal electric power generation9
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WHEREAS, the CEC has notified the City that the proposed EPS site is the
prime candidate for the construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the existing
plant because of the ready availability of land and existing electric utility related
infrastructure; and
facilities no longer require ocean water for cooling and as such are no longer
considered coastal-dependent land uses; and
WHEREAS, the construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the
13 existing plant will add pollutants and noxious emissions to the environment,
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particularly to the ocean and lagoon, affecting the health, safety and welfare of the
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citizens of Carlsbad and its environs; and
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WHEREAS, the construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the
existing plant will affect the fish and wildlife ecosystem of the Agua Hedionda
Lagoon;and
WHEREAS, the construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the
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EPS may be prejudicial to other proposed nearby land uses; and
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WHEREAS, the construction of the proposed CECP expansion to the
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EPS will require increased fossil fuel consumption and expose the citizens of
Carlsbad to additional environmental risks at the proposed location; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to study the appropriateness of the
General Plan land use designation and other land use policies for the site; and
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districts amended, would severely prejudice the ability of the City to permit,
6 conditionally permit or prohibit expansion or location of thermal electric power
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generation facilities at this location or at other locations; and
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WHEREAS, these considerations are consistent with longstanding Cityy
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WHEREAS, construction of the proposed CECP expansion may be in
conflict with a zoning proposal which the City Council intends to study; and
WHEREAS, processing and approval of the proposed CECP
expansion, until these studies are completed and the General Plan and zoning
Council policy, including those expressed in City Council Resolution 98-145, which
declared the City's intention to comprehensively study land use policies within SP
144, which encompasses the Encina Power Station, Agua Hedionda Lagoon, and
13 surrounding properties, and determine appropriate revisions.
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WHEREAS, the City Council has determined for the reasons stated
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above, such construction of the proposed CECP expansion of the existing Encina
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Power Station represents a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety
and welfare; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance is adopted pursuant to Government Code
section 65858(b), and CS -009 allowing the adoption of such urgency ordinances by
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a majority vote of its legislative body, after notice and hearing pursuant to
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Government Code section 65090; and
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WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City Council to extend this urgency
ordinance for 10 months and 15 days following a notice and public hearing to the
expiration of 45 days from the adoption of this ordinance.
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processed or approved which would increase the size, location, generating capacity
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or use of the existing Encina Power Station or allow the establishment of any other
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thermal electric power generation facility within the Coastal Zone.
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SECTION 3: On or before 45 days following the adoption of this
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NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad ordains
as follows:
SECTION 1: That the above recitations are true and correct.
SECTION 2: No development application shall be accepted,
ordinance, the City Council shall hold a public hearing to consider extending this
ordinance for 10 months and 15 days pursuant to Government Code section
65858(b). The City Clerk is directed to notice the hearings as required by
13 Government Code section 65090.
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DECLARATION OF URGENCY: This ordinance is hereby declared to
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be an emergency ordinance adopted as an urgency measure to protect the public
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health, safety and welfare and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. The
facts constituting the emergency are set forth above and represent a current and
immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare and that approval of additional
development or expansion of the Encina Power Station which may be required in
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order to comply with existing ordinances would represent a threat to the public
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health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Carlsbad.
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EFFECTIVE: This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon
passage and shall be of no further force and effect after 45 days of the date of its
adoption unless extended by the City Council pursuant to Section 3. Thereafter, it
shall remain in effect until contemplated studies studying the appropriateness of the
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land use designation in the General Plan and zoning districts within the zoning code
for electric and gas power generating plants are completed unless sooner repealed
by the City Council.
At least ten days prior to the expiration of this interim ordinance, the
City Council shall issue a written report describing the measures it has taken to
6 alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of this ordinance. The City Clerk of
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the City of Carlsbad shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be
published within 15 days after its adoption.
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INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a regular meeting of the Carlsbad City Council on
the 20- day of October. 2009, and thereafter.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the
City of Carlsbad on the 20* day of October, 2009, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Council Members Lewis, Kulchin, Hall, Packard and Blackburn.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
/ / / ••• " /) ' - //J-f^j^/L/^C /fe/. ^4- /ffft-sc^-ty
RONALD R. BALL, City Attorney / /\ /? / /O// f \ / 1 "A / /
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CLAllDE^L^/vlS.ttayor
ATTEST: ,7T /O i /70//J7A// 0(AJ^\ ^S^ , ^-J^
yORRAlMfi M. WQOD\ City Clerk
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1 RESOLUTION NO.2009-263
2 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA DECLARING ITS
3 INTENTION TO STUDY AND CONSIDER
4 AMENDMENTS TO THE GENERAL PLAN
DESIGNATION, ZONING ORDINANCES AND OTHER
5 LAND USE REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO THE
EXPANSION OR LOCATION OF THERMAL ELECTRIC
6 POWER GENERATION FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY
7 WHEREAS, the San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) initially
8 constructed the Encina Power Station (EPS) in approximately 1952 on a portion of the
9 95-acre EPS site; and
10 WHEREAS, the Public Utility (PU) Zone was established in 1971 and applied to
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the EPS and surrounding properties then owned by SDG&E; and
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WHEREAS, that zone has not been studied or substantially amended since that
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time; and
15 WHEREAS, in conformance with the PU Zone, a Specific Plan was adopted for
16 680-acres owned by SDG&E, including the EPS site; and
17 WHEREAS, in 1973 the City Council approved the amendment to the Specific
18 Plan to permit enlargement of the EPS including the construction of a 400 foot high
19 stack as a means of dispersing Power Station air emissions and reducing adverse
20 impacts on surrounding residential neighborhoods; and
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WHEREAS, the General Plan designation establishing a Public Utilities (U) land
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use classification was created in 1974 and subsequently applied to the EPS site; and
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WHEREAS, in 1975, the PU Zone was updated to require a Precise
25 Development Plan (PDP) rather than a Specific Plan for public utility uses; and
26 WHEREAS, the PDP for the EPS has been incorporated into Specific Plan 144
27 (SP) which includes the EPS and surrounding properties; and
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1 WHEREAS, the Agua Hedionda Local Coastal Plan (LCP) was adopted in 1982
2 which includes the properties then owned by SDG&E including the EPS site; and
3 WHEREAS, the LCP contains numerous regulations and restrictions which
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impact the EPS site and other properties within the LCP that may be impacted by uses
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at the EPS site including those regulations and restrictions related to public access, land
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use, building height, recreation, agriculture, aquaculture, visual impacts and uses of the
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lagoon; and
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WHERAS, since its adoption, the Agua Hedionda LCP has not been
10 comprehensively updated; and
11 WHEREAS, in 1999 SDG&E divested itself from its electric generation operations
12 and sold the EPS to a private operator, Cabrillo Power LLC, now known as the Carlsbad
13 Energy Center LLC (Applicant) which is not a "public utility" within the intended meaning
14 of the PL) Zone; and
WHEREAS, the sale of the EPS site to a private operator and the proposed
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expansion of the power plant have raised additional issues and public concerns
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including future restrictions on public access to Agua Hedionda Lagoon, maintenance
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dredging of the lagoon, the continuation of aquaculture and research at the lagoon,
2Q environmental clean-up and mitigation related to oil and fuel storage and usage, and
21 use of the site for power generation notwithstanding considerations of the public health,
22 safety, and general welfare, the proposed expansion of the Power Plant; and
23 WHEREAS, the City believes that it is necessary in order to protect the interests
of its citizens for the City staff to initiate a process to address the aforementioned issues
25 and concerns and to comprehensively study and consider updates to the regulation of
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existing and proposed thermal electric power generation facilities within the City; and
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1 WHEREAS, the City believes that it is necessary for this process to include
2 consideration of amendments to the existing Zoning and General Plan designations and
3 Local Coastal Plan provisions for existing and proposed thermal electric power
4 generation facilities including those for the EPS; and
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WHEREAS, these considerations should include whether the expansion or
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location of thermal electric power generation facilities in the Coastal Zone is in the best
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interest of the citizens of Carlsbad and whether that is the best, long-term use of the8
9 EPS site given its superior coastal location and proximity to other existing, surrounding
JO uses that can be adversely impacted by a thermal electric power generation facility; and
11 WHEREAS, since SDG&E sold the EPS to Cabrillo Power LLC, a private
12 operator, which is not a "public utility" regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, it
13 may no longer be appropriate or necessary to exempt the Encina Power Station from
14 the non-conforming use provisions of Carlsbad Municipal Code section 21.48.100, and
this zone code should be considered for amendment or repeal; and
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WHEREAS, these considerations are consistent with longstanding City Council
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policy, including those expressed in City Council Resolution 98-145, which declared the
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City's intention to comprehensively study land use policies within SP 144 and determine
20 appropriate revisions.
21 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of
22 Carlsbad, California as follows:
23 1. That the above recitations are true and correct.
24 2. That pursuant to Section 21.52.020 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code and
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Section 65358 of the State Government Code, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad
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declares its intention to consider amendments to the General Plan, the Zoning
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1 Ordinances, the Local Coastal Plan, and other regulations pertaining to the location and
2 operation of thermal electric power generation facilities within the City.
3. City staff is hereby directed to study this matter, prepare
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recommendations and to set public hearings before the Planning Commission, Housing
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and Redevelopment Commission and City Council to determine whether the present
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General Plan and Zoning designations and Local Coastal Plan provisions for existing
0 and proposed thermal electric power generation facilities within the City, including the
o
9 EPS site, should be amended.
10 4. Part of the study may include preparing alternative land uses and a
11 "conceptual Master Plan" for the properties included in the EPS site and, at this time,
staff is authorized to solicit Requests for Qualifications (RFQ's) from consulting firms
13 that are interested in contracting with the City to assist staff in preparing said alternative
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uses for the EPS site.
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5. Staff is also directed to consider the repeal or amendments to Carlsbad16
Municipal Code section 21.48.100 regarding Public Utiltiy exemptions from the non-
18 conforming use provisions to the Zoning Ordinance, as appropriate.
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PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council
of the City of Carlsbad on the 20^ day of October. 2009, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Council Members Lewis, Kulchin, Hall, Packard and Blackburn.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ATTEST:
LORRAINE NT WOOD, City Clerk
(SEAL)
CALIFORNIA ENERGY DEMAND 2010-2020
STAFF REVISED FORECAST
CALIFORNIA
ENERGY
COMMISSION
O
Q_
HI
V)
September 2009
CEC-200-2009-012-SF
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
CHAPTER 4: San Diego Gas & Electric Planning
Area
The San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) planning area includes SDG&E bundled retail
customers and customers served by various energy service providers (ESPs) using the
SDG&E distribution system to deliver electricity to end users.
This chapter is organized in a fashion similar to those for the other planning areas. First,
forecasts of total and per capita consumption and peak loads for the planning area are
presented. For perspective, CED 2009 Revised values are compared to both CED 2009 Draft
and CED 2007 values. The forecasted load factor, jointly determined by the consumption
and peak load estimates, is also discussed. Then, sector consumption and peak load
forecasts are presented and compared to the sector level values of the two previous
forecasts.
For the CED 2009 Draft, three price scenarios were developed for electricity rates: high rates,
low (constant) rates, and a mid-rate scenario in between the two. The high-rate case
assumed approximately 30 percent higher rates by 2020 relative to 2010, while the mid-rate
case assumed 15 percent higher rates over the same period. In the low-rate case, rates
remained at 2010 levels through 2020 as was done in CED 2007. In CED 2009 Revised, the
mid-rate price forecast was used and all comparisons to CED 2009 Draft are made to the
mid-rate scenario. Chapter 1 provides more details on price assumptions.
Forecast Results
The following summarizes the results presented in this chapter:
• CED 2009 Revised electricity consumption forecasts for the SDG&E planning area is
lower than CED 2007 levels because of the economic downturn and increased efficiency
impacts, but higher than in CED 2009 Draft.
• CED 2009 Revised peak demand is lower than both previous forecasts because of
increased estimates of self-generation.
• Per capita electricity consumption and peak demand are projected to be lower than in
CED 2007.
• The largest percentage reduction in electricity consumption relative to CED 2007 occurs
in the residential and commercial sectors.
• Alternative economic scenarios increase or decrease electricity consumption and peak
demand by around 2 percent in 2020.
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• Peak self-generation impacts are projected to be higher than in CED 2007 and CED 2009
Draft, mainly because of increased adoption of photovoltaic systems.
Table 15 compares planning area electricity consumption and peak demand forecasts for
selected years. CED 2009 Revised is compared to both CED 2009 Draft mid rate and CED
2007. CED 2009 Revised electricity consumption is higher than CED 2009 Draft by about 5
percent at the end of the forecast period. This is caused mainly by higher economic forecast
values provided in the June Moody's Economy.com forecast. CED 2009 Revised consumption
is still about 5 percent lower than CED 2007 at the end of the period. CED 2009 Revised peak
is about 2 percent lower than CED 2009 Draft peak and a little over 4 percent lower than
CED 2007. The reduction in CED 2009 Revised peak, relative to the changes in the
consumption, is caused by increased assumptions regarding self-generation. This has the
impact of reducing net system peak but does not reduce total electricity consumption. Long-
term growth rates of both CED 2009 Revised consumption and peak are now just slightly
below CED 2007 growth rates.
82
Figure 70: SDG&E Planning Area Electricity Forecast
22,000
Source: California Energy Commission, 2009
CED 2009 Revised SDG&E planning area peak demand (Figure 71) is slightly lower than
CED 2009 Draft throughout the forecast period. This is caused by an increase in the peak
impact of self-generation programs projected in CED 2009 Revised.
Figure 71: SDG&E Planning Area Peak
Source: California Energy Commission, 2009
84
Figure 74: SDG&E Planning Area Peak Load Factor
History
m- CEO ZOOS revised
CEO 2009 draft
CEO 2007
Source: California Energy Commission, 2009
Sector Level Results and Input Assumptions
Residential
Figure 75 compares residential forecasts. CED 2009 Revised is higher over the entire forecast
period than CED 2009 Draft but is still below the level of CED 2007. The increase over CED
2009 Draft is caused by increased projections of household income and slightly higher
persons-per-household projections, as well as an increase in the starting value brought
about by inclusion of 2008 sales. The revised household income projections are still below
those in CED 2007.
87
Figure 92: SDG&E Planning Area Self-Generation Estimates
Dran history
—•— CED 2009 revised
—*— CED 2O09 drall
Revised history
Source: California Energy Commission, 2009
Figure 93: SDG&E Planning Area Self-Generation Peak Forecasts
3OO
200
100
50 -i
Source: California Energy Commission, 2009
99
LUCE FORWARD
ATTORNEYS AT LAW • FOUNDED 1873 San Diego, CA 92101
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS LLP 619.236.1414
619.232.8311 fax
www.luce.com
RONALD W. ROUSE, PARTNER
DIRECT DIAL NUMBER 619.699.2572
DIRECT FAX NUMBER 619.235.1338
EMAIL ADDRESS rrouse@luce.com
October 20, 2009
HAND DELIVERED
Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers
City of Carlsbad
1200 Carlsbad Village Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Re: October 20,2009 Meeting Agenda Item # 17
Proposed Urgency Ordinance (CS-067)
Dear Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers:
We are special counsel to Cabrillo Power I, LLC, owner/operator of the entire Encina Power
Station (EPS), and Carlsbad Energy Center, LLC, applicant before the California Energy
Commission (CEC) for certification of the Carlsbad Energy Center Project (CECP). Both
entities are subsidiaries of NRG Energy, Inc. and will collectively be referred to in this letter as
"Cabrillo".
Cabrillo sincerely regrets needing to appear here this evening to address the City's efforts to
adopt a claimed "emergency" ordinance (CS-067) in furtherance of the City's continuing efforts
to block and frustrate the CEC's careful and exhaustive consideration of the CECP. The CECP
represents a long standing planned effort to improve the region's critical electrical energy
production through the approval of new, modern, efficient, combined cycle gas fired generation
combined with parallel retirement of three of the existing, older, less efficient boiler units at EPS.
Locating modern efficient generation at the existing EPS is the best location as there is the well
established regional electrical distribution grid and associated support facilities at the site.
As the City acknowledges in its staff report and proposed ordinance, its existing zoning and
associated land use regulations have consistently provided for electrical energy production at the
EPS site for decades and the regional energy grid has developed around EPS to fully support it.
The CECP would utilize only the easterly approximately 32 acres of the EPS site, between
Interstate 5 and the railroad tracks, leaving the balance of the overall EPS site westerly of the
railroad tracks for potential future development when the balance of the existing facility can also
be retired.
CARMEL VALLEY/DEL MAR • Los ANGELES • RANCHO SANTA FE • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO
LUCE FORWARD
ATTORNEYS AT LAW • FOUNDED 1873
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS LLP
Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers
October 20, 2009
Page 2
It is particularly disturbing that the City chose to provide neither Cabrillo nor the California
Energy Commission any advance notice of the proposed ordinance as there are many legal and
factual flaws in the action proposed by the City.
LEGAL IRREGULARITIES
The siting and operation of the CECP is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the CEC under the
Warren-Alquist Act. The City and the City's Redevelopment Agency are active interveners in
that process and all activities regarding the CECP must be submitted and evaluated through the
comprehensive process established by the CEC under California law. The CEC "occupies the
field" in terms of jurisdiction and the City's attempted circumvention of California law is
improper as beyond its legitimate powers.
The City's efforts to proceed under the "urgency ordinance" provisions are misplaced here as the
staff report and ordinance itself demonstrates this CECP application has been pending since
September, 2007. The City fails to establish the requisite facts or circumstances establishing
any urgency or emergency justifying this action. The CEC administrative record is complete
with multiple objections from the City for the better part of two years; common sense establishes
the absence of any emergency conditions.
The proposed ordinance constitutes impermissible/illegal "spot zoning" as it is clearly directed at
a single pending project and a single landowner. The proposed action cannot be justified as
general legislation; in essence, it represents an improper use of retro-active zoning to illegally
attempt to pre-empt the CECP.
In the draft ordinance, the City "resolves" that certain factual conclusions exist regarding the
"need" for the ordinance. However, no where in the administrative record is there any facts
supporting those naked conclusory statements to support the City's claims, the basis for the
emergency/urgency ordinance, or the unsupported claim the ordinance is needed to protect the
immediate health and safety of the community.
The City has failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by
attempting to rely on an inapplicable "exemption" citing Admin. Reg. Sec. 15262 in its staff
report. The proposed ordinance attempts and purports to go far beyond the permissible scope of
"planning and feasibility" studies authorized by the limited CEQA exemption cited. The City
has made no effort whatsoever to comply with CEQA. According to the City's own staff report,
it contends important environmental effects are involved here. The CEC is undergoing a
comprehensive statutory environmental evaluation of the CECP and the City has fully engaged
in the environmental issues. For the City to now assert that no environmental impacts are raised
LUCE FORWARD
ATTORNEYS AT LAW • FOUNDED 1873
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS UP
Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers
October 20, 2009
Page 3
is ludicrous and to ignore the CEQA compliance requirements applicable to City actions is
illegal.
FACTUAL INACCURACIES
The entire staff report and the proposed ordinance contain many inaccurate and unsupported
statements regarding the CECP, apparently in an effort to bolster the proposed ordinance and the
City's long standing opposition, notwithstanding the true state of affairs. Regrettably, the
continuing inaccurate and unsupported statements and project renderings only serve to confuse
the public and community.
A major continuing factually unsupportable theme throughout the staff report and proposed
ordinance is that the CECP will have adverse unmitigable environmental effects. Nothing could
be further from the truth. The comprehensive environmental analysis undertaken by the
independent CEC staff to date does not demonstrate that CECP will have any unmitigable
adverse environmental effects. In fact, part and parcel of the CECP is the concurrent retirement
of the less efficient three older boiler units at EPS. As a result of the CECP, electrical power
generation in the basin will be cleaner, more efficient and emit less pollutants per megawatt of
energy output compared with the existing EPS units.
Further, City continually suggests the CECP represents an additional new 540 MW of generating
capacity. In fact, with the concurrent retirement of three EPS existing units, the net increase in
generating capacity will be about 220 MW. However, because the new combined cycle gas fired
air cooled units are much more efficient and lower emitting per megawatt of energy output, the
overall environmental benefits will be much greater as demonstrated and documented in the CEC
process.
The staff report infers that the CECP will be harmful to the fish and wildlife ecosystem as a
result of a modest (approximately 4.3 million gallons a day) ocean water purification process that
will utilize the existing EPS discharge. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the
small ocean water purification process is clearly intended as an interim supply until reclaimed
water or similar provisions come available. When the CECP application was originally
submitted, reclaimed water from nearby Encina Wastewater Authority was proposed as the
source of industrial water for the CECP. However, the City refused to provide reclaimed;
therefore, forcing the ocean water purification process as the alternative. Interestingly, the City's
objection to this source is contrary to its long standing support for the Poseidon desalination
project, which will use the same existing EPS ocean cooling water system discharge as will the
CECP, but Poseidon's volumes will be 80 or more times larger. The City is on record of fully
supporting Poseidon's reliance on the same source, so it should not now be raising
LUCE FORWARD
ATTORNEYS AT LAW • FOUNDED 1873
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS LLP
Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers
October 20, 2009
Page 4
"environmental" objections to CECP's modest ocean water purification while denying alternative
reclaimed water sources.
CONCLUSION
It appears this late, illegal and factually unsupportable effort is but another manifestation by the
City of its opposition to the modernization of electrical power generation in our region and the
efficient use of the existing electrical distribution infrastructure and grid. This vital
infrastructure has been in place and developed over multiple decades in order to provide the local
and regional community reliable, safe and the cleanest electrical generation available.
The CECP, as presented and analyzed exhaustively in the pending CEC proceedings is
environmentally superior to available options and has the following positive attributes and
benefits:
• Allows for the concurrent retirement of three older, less efficient boiler units at
the existing EPS facility;
Provides clean, safe and rapid response local power generation capabilities
necessary for increased grid penetration of renewable energy generation from
locations outside the region; and
The smaller footprint, and lower profile natural gas fueled combined cycle CECP
units will be located on the easterly 32 acres of the EPS property between
Interstate 5 and the railroad tracks, thus allowing for future development options
on the EPS property westerly of the tracks.
LUCE FORWARD
ATTORNEYS AT LAW • FOUNDED 1873
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS LLP
Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers
October 20, 2009
PageS
Cabrillo objects to the unsupported and illegal proposed ordinance activities, and respectfully,
asks the City to abandon that effort and instead, work through the CEC process to make sure the
CECP meets all legitimate environmental and land use policies to assure the most efficient, cost
effective and reliable local and regional energy sufficiency.
XVery truTy\ yours,
/"x/f/i
Ccmald W. Rouse
of
LUCE, FORWARD, HAMILTON & SCRIPPS LLP
RWR/lb
cc: Carlsbad City Clerk, City Attorney and City Manager
101195519.2
City of Carlsbad
October 20, 2009
Two Actions
Consider Moratorium of power plants in
Coastal Zone
Direct staff to analyze appropriate Public
Utility locations including potential re-
use of Encina Power Station
Cooling technology has improved over
past 10 years
Power plants no longer need to be on the
coast
•Palomar
•Otay Mesa
If approved, staff will:
•Develop land use analysis options
•Projected budget
•Schedule
Return to Council for further
consideration and direction
AREA OF ENCINA SPECIFIC PLAN (SP 144)
25 years of competing visions
Many unsuccessful attempts to find
solution
Current consistency uncertain -merchant
power plants not considered Public
Utility by the CEC
Schedule
October 20, 2009 –Moratorium considered
December 1, 2009 –Public Hearing
By October 2010, potential to extend moratorium
1 year
Within 2 years, return to Council with potential
land use amendments