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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22nd, 2010
Organizations Oppose Placement of Power Plant in the Otay Valley Regional Park
Imperial Beach, California. Twelve environmental organizations—local, statewide, and national—
signed-on to a letter released today to the California Energy Commission opposing the placement of
a 300-megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant inside the Otay Valley Regional Park, located in
south San Diego County four miles north of the U.S. – Mexico Border.
The organizations that signed-on to the letter include: WiLDCOAST, Friends of the OVRP, The
City Project, Conservation Biology Institute, Endangered Habitat League, Endangered Habitat
Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, San Diego River Park Foundation, Sierra Club San
Diego Chapter, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Diego Audubon Society, and Preserve
Wild Santee.
The power plant is proposed for an area located within the City of Chula Vista’s Preserve, which is
designated as a “100% Conservation Area” in the City of Chula Vista Multiple Species
Conservation Program (MSCP) Subarea Plan. This designation is for land to be preserved and
managed for its biological resources.
Apex Power Group LLC, the power plant developer, submitted an application to the California
Energy Commission on June 30, 2010, to develop a plant and a substation on approximately 14-
acres of undisturbed land, along the southeastern city boundary of the City of Chula Vista. The
project, called the Pio Pico Energy Center, is proposed to be located within the boundary area of the
Otay Valley Regional Park.
The proposed natural gas peaker plant would be located directly adjacent to the Otay Lakes County
Park, a 78-acre County-operated park also located in the OVRP that offers the community hiking
trails, picnic areas, and a playground among other amenities.
The Otay Valley Regional Park (OVRP) is a public open space park with a planning area of 9,000-
acres in the Otay River Valley. It is a greenbelt that cuts between the Cities of Chula Vista and
South San Diego and extends from the Otay Reservoirs to the southern wetlands of the San Diego
Bay. The park is shared by the County of San Diego and the Cities of San Diego and Chula Vista
and is one of the last areas of open space in south San Diego County.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) will ultimately decide if this project will be permitted.
The CEC licenses power plants 50 megawatts (MW) and larger and the facilities related to those
plants. They will hold public workshops and hearings as part of the process before making a final
WiLDCOAST conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife.
925 SEACOAST DRIVE IMPERIAL BEACH, CA 91902 619.423.8665 WWW.WILDCOAST.NET
decision, in which the pubic is encouraged to participate.
“The OVRP is a shining jewel of the South Bay. Do we really want to tarnish this jewel by placing
a power plant here?” says Serge Dedina, Executive Director of WiLDCOAST. “This project does
not belong in the park.”
WiLDCOAST was founded in 2000 to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife.
