From Chip Ashley in reply to Ed on April 30, 2008 at 8:57 am.  

Yes, Ed, that is what is happening here. PGandE's favorite is the eastern route through the Sierra foothills from south of Porterville, CA to Fresno County, where it will end at a massive substation in the foothills and tie into the Helms-Gregg 230kV line. The foothill areas all along the line are relatively unpopulated.

The stated purpose of the project is to supply additional juice to the growing northern San Joaquin Valley (which has no business growing any more due to lack of water and poor air quality) and the Helms Project, a pump-storage facility which has had many problems. In many ways, the project is a poster child for the lack of overall and long-term planning typical of capitalist economies. (I don't have anything against capitalism per se except that it requires continued, often unplanned growth that uses up limited space and resources.) It is a short-term plan (I hesitate to use the word "solution" because the plan will create more problems than it will solve) with devastating long-term implications for the Sierra foothills.