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this topic. He noted that at the Pleasanton Power Park several sources of energy generation on site are being proposed. He recommended that the City consider municiplizing and taking advantage of the opportunities presented this evening. He advised that the generation at the point of use is more cost and environmentally efficient, and that thought needs to be given to community security and keeping the power generated here for use here. Ron Markham, 4393 Clovewood Lane, noted that he works for P.G. & E., but he is speaking as a citizen of Pleasanton. He stated that he disagrees with the speaker who said he could beat the quality of the power from the grid and that he feels receiving power over the grid is environmentally much more benign than installing generation any where within Pleasanton. He advised that he supports the Plann'mg Commission's efforts to establish energy policies and strategies, and he feels that the idea of looking for ways to conserve energy is an outstanding step in the right direction. He advised that the generation shortage we are facing is an overall system generation shortage, and even if Pleasanton were to install a generation facility within the City, it does not mean that Pleasanton residents would be immune to a blackout if there is a system shortage of power generation. He noted that power genemtiun in Pleasanton would contribute to the overall system and help the entire State, but it would not benefit Pleasanton directly. He provided an overview concerning how energy to Pleasanton is fed by the transmission system. He reported that if generation were installed in Pleasanton it would minimize the risk and the amount of time that the City would be in a radial set-up, but it would not necessarily make Pleasanton immune to the overall system outages. PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED In response to a question from Commissioner Roberts, Mr. SwiR advised that power plant approvals are discretionary and the CEQA roles and regulations apply. He advised that the determination of whether an EIR should be prepared cannot be made until a project has congealed and all of the factors of the proposal are known. Commissioner Roberts inquired as to what a reasonable time frame would be for completion of the study. Mr. Swift responded that this type of study is virtually never done in less than a year. Discussion ensued regarding the permitting authority and process for various types of power generation facility applications. Chairperson Sullivan expressed his thanks to staff for the report and to Mr. Stoner for his presentation. He commented that he feels we are facing an energy crisis of many different elements. He stated that there is an apparent shortage of supply during peak and off-peak times. He noted that there is some dispute as to the extent of the problem and questioned the composition of the ISO. lie further noted that there is some controversy and uncertainty as to the actual supply and demand equation. He advised that there is a problem with the sky-rocketing price of elactricity. He noted that the proposals to build power plants in our City are not acceptable as shown by the public opposition at the last meeting. He commented that until this evening we have only heard about unsustainable solutions to the problems and not a lot of discussion about alternatives. He advised that the City is also faced with P.G. & E.'s proposal to PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES November 28, 2000 Page 9