Our date: Friday, November 13. Become a member and send your letter by Friday, November 13th. Become a member →
Save Fallbrook

SDG&E’s 500-kV Powerlink · Fallbrook, California

The future of Fallbrook is being decided.

SDG&E has proposed a 500 kV transmission line with towers up to 191 feet tall. Proposed routes cross Fallbrook. Proposed does not mean inevitable. Save Fallbrook will file a formal protest with the CPUC. Become a member so your home counts, and say no in writing by our date, Friday, November 13.

Become a member Say no by email

Multiple routes reach Fallbrook

Preferred routeSDG&E's main proposed corridor, through portions of Fallbrook and the Santa Margarita River area.
South Mountain AlternativeThreatens more of Fallbrook, then runs east through Pauma Valley and south of Palomar Mountain.
Find your neighborhood on the map →
500 kVLine voltage
~191 ftTallest towers, about 20 stories
145 milesTo the OC coast
4Counties in its path

Photo: the Santa Margarita River valley in Fallbrook.

Fight the Powerlink

Four things to do this week

  1. 1

    Become a member

    Sign once so your household and property count in Save Fallbrook's formal CPUC protest. About three minutes.

    Sign the member form →
  2. 2

    Send one email

    Tell the CPUC and SDG&E you oppose the project, by our date, Friday, November 13. The draft is written. You add two sentences.

    Open the draft →
  3. 3

    Sign the petition

    Add your name to Supervisor Jim Desmond's petition to stop SDG&E’s 500-kV Powerlink.

    Sign the petition →
  4. 4

    Bring two neighbors

    Our goal is an email from every address on every road. Send this page to two people on yours.

Interactive route map

Is your home near the line?

Type your address, or tap the map. We'll show how far you are from each route SDG&E has shown for Fallbrook, then help you put it in writing.

Your result will appear here.

  • Preferred route
  • South Mountain Alternative

Routes are approximate centerlines traced from SDG&E's August 2026 published maps, accurate to about a third of a mile. SDG&E has not published a surveyed alignment or tower locations, so this can't tell you whether a line would cross a specific parcel. Full regional map · Parcel-level map (Pauma Valley) · SDG&E maps

Step one · About three minutes

Become a member. Make Fallbrook count.

Save Fallbrook will file a formal protest with the CPUC once SDG&E files its application. Every member shows the CPUC how many neighbors, homes and parcels stand in opposition. The more of us who join, the more weight our protest carries.

  • Owners, renters, growers and business owners can all sign.
  • Co-owners and adults in the same home each sign their own form.
  • You can still file your own protest or comment.
  • We'll contact you before anything with your name is filed.

Save Fallbrook is a volunteer-led community task force. Questions? Contact us.

I am a

Step two · Our date: Friday, November 13

Say no to the whole project

Pick what matters most to you and the letter builds itself. It opposes the Powerlink as a whole, not just the route past your house, and asks the CPUC to look at real alternatives. Then add a sentence or two only you could write.

What should your letter cover?
To
public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov, GoldenPacific@sdge.com
Cc
GPP@ascent.inc, jim.desmond@sdcounty.ca.gov, info@savefallbrook.org
Subject

      

        Open in my email app
        
      

    

  

  

  
If your email app doesn't open, copy the email and paste it into a new message to the addresses above. Send it in English or Spanish. Want a different focus? Edit anything in the letter before you send it.






  
Where the decision stands · October 2026
The clock has started
Nothing is approved. Here is how we got here, where things stand now, and what happens once SDG&E files.

  

  
How we got here

  
    
    
  1. Spring 2023
    The state grid operator sets the need. CAISO approves a new 500-kV line in its 2022–2023 Transmission Plan.
    2. 
    
  2. Summer 2025
    SDG&E takes it on. SDG&E becomes responsible for building, owning and operating the line.
    3. 
    
  3. Spring–Fall 2026
    Routes go public. SDG&E holds online and in-person open houses and shows its route options.
    4. 
    
  4. July 20, 2026
    Fallbrook says no. The Fallbrook Community Planning Group votes unanimously to oppose.
    5. 
    
  5. Sept. 17, 2026
    We showed up. The CPUC holds its voting meeting in San Marcos, and Fallbrook fills the room in yellow.
    6. 
    
  6. Oct. 26, 2026
    Our water district says no. The Fallbrook Public Utility District board votes to oppose.
    7. 
  

  
Right now

  
    
    
  1. Our date: Fri., Nov. 13
    Join and send your email. We don’t know exactly when SDG&E will file, so we’re getting every membership and email in before Thanksgiving week.
    2. 
    
  2. Fall–Winter 2026
    SDG&E files with the CPUC. Its application starts the formal case and gets a case number.
    3. 
  

  
After SDG&E files

  
    
    
  1. Within 30 days
    Protests are due. Save Fallbrook files its formal protest for its members within 30 days of the filing being posted on the CPUC’s Daily Calendar.
    2. 
    
  2. Next
    Environmental review. A 30-day window to say what the environmental study must cover, then at least 45 days to comment on the draft.
    3. 
    
  3. 2026–2029
    Permits and a final CPUC vote. State and federal permitting, hearings, then a vote at a public CPUC meeting.
    4. 
    
  4. 2029–2032
    Construction and service, only if approved. SDG&E’s schedule shows construction from fall 2029 and service in 2032.
    5. 
  

  

  
Sources: CAISO 2022–2023 Transmission Plan · SDG&E project timeline · CPUC project page · CPUC public participation fact sheet · CPUC Rules of Practice, Rule 2.6 · FPUD board agenda, Oct. 26, 2026 · FCPG statement






  
Fire danger comes first
They’ve burned us before

  
The CPUC found that SDG&E’s power lines caused the 2007 Witch, Guejito and Rice fires, and that SDG&E had not managed its lines prudently. The Rice Fire burned 9,472 acres in Fallbrook and destroyed 248 homes and buildings. One of SDG&E’s routes appears to cross its burn scar. CPUC, Nov. 2017 · CAL FIRE: Rice Fire · KPBS, July 2008

  

    
1,000 ft
Harder to fight
Fire guidance cited in the CPUC's review of SDG&E's Sunrise Powerlink says ground crews should not attack a fire within 500 feet of a power line. That leaves a strip about 1,000 feet wide along the whole line. Air tankers and helicopters risk hitting towers and wires in the smoke.
CPUC Sunrise Powerlink Final EIR, Fire and Fuels

    
Left on
Hard to switch off
In dangerous fire weather, utilities can turn off power to neighborhood lines. A big transmission line is much harder to turn off, because whole regions depend on the power it carries. Power lines started the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people. Ask SDG&E when, exactly, it would turn off a 500-kV line.
CAL FIRE: Camp Fire

    
19 dead
Deadly even when idle
In August 2026, the Los Angeles County Fire Department found the January 2025 Eaton Fire was caused by electrical arcing on an out-of-service Southern California Edison transmission tower. It killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 homes and businesses.
LA County Fire Department, Aug. 2026

  

  
Put this in your email. Ask how firefighters would attack a fire under, above and around this line, and how fast SDG&E could de-energize it.
Say no by email






  

    
Drawn to scale

    
Four water tanks tall

    
Fallbrook’s iconic Rattlesnake water tank stands about 48 feet tall, and Fallbrook’s building height limit is 36 feet. The proposed towers would reach about 191 feet, roughly a 20-story building, across our hills and protected lands.

    
Tower height as described for this project. The house is a typical two-story home.

  

  
    
      
      
      HOUSE 25 FT
      RATTLESNAKETANK48 FT
      36 FT LIMIT
      
      191 FT500 kV TOWER
    
  





  
What's at stake
Fallbrook carries the risk, others get the power
This is not a line that directly serves or benefits Fallbrook. CAISO identified the need to serve the LA Basin and San Diego–Imperial Valley areas. Fallbrook carries the land-use, environmental, wildfire, economic and quality-of-life costs.

  

    
Wildfire
More ignition risk, blocked evacuation routes and a hazard to aerial firefighting.

    
Insurance
Added risk in high-fire zones makes coverage harder to get and afford.

    
Property values
Views dominated by towers nearly 200 feet tall, plus safety concerns buyers will weigh.

    
Scenic views
Fallbrook's rolling hills and protected lands crossed by steel towers.

    
The watershed
The Santa Margarita River, endangered species and connected preserves. Read more

    
Our drinking water
The Santa Margarita River now supplies about half of the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s water, through a project shared with Camp Pendleton. Its water rights have been in federal court since 1951.

    
Local economy
Agriculture, agri-tourism, recreation and the businesses that depend on them.

    
Health concerns
Constant magnetic fields near homes and buzzing, crackling line noise.

  






  
Protect your property now
A few steps today protect you later

  

    

      
Got a survey letter?

      
SDG&E is contacting landowners about sending biologists and archaeologists onto private property for surveys. You can decline access. Keep a written copy of any response you send.

      
Under California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1245.010–1245.060, if survey work would cause actual damage or substantial interference with your use of the land, the utility needs your written consent or a court order first. Eminent domain comes much later and would require CPUC approval of the project and route.

      
General information, not legal advice. CCP § 1245.010

    

    

      
On a well? Document it

      
If construction ever affects your water, a record from before it starts is your proof.

      
    
        
  • Have your water tested by a state-certified (California ELAP) lab.
    • 
        
  • After the well has rested a few hours, measure the static water level.
    • 
        
  • Write down the date, take photos, and keep the results safe.
    • 
      

      
Then mention your well in your email to the CPUC.

    

  






  

    
September 17, 2026 · San Marcos

    
The CPUC came to North County

    
All five commissioners heard from more than 80 in-person speakers, then dozens more by phone. Residents, farmers, business owners and elected representatives raised wildfire, evacuation, aerial firefighting, the Santa Margarita watershed, insurability, eminent domain and ratepayer costs.

    
A six-year-old Fallbrook resident gave each commissioner a locally grown sunflower and a handwritten note. His nine-year-old brother asked, “What problem is this solving?”

    
Fallbrook residents in Save Fallbrook yellow fill the San Marcos City Council Chambers for the CPUC meeting, September 17, 2026
San Marcos City Council Chambers, Sept. 17, 2026.

  

  

    
From Save Fallbrook

    
Read and share

    

      Our open letter to Fallbrook (PDF)
      The Santa Margarita watershed
      Shop shirts and signs
    

  






  

    
Get updates

    
Be first to know when SDG&E files

    
News, deadlines and the case number, by email. We only use your address for Powerlink updates. Unsubscribe any time.

    
Get the official notices too. Email GPP@ascent.inc and ask to join the CPUC’s mailing list for this project. Once SDG&E files, you can also subscribe to the case on the CPUC’s website. Either way, you’ll know when it’s go time. CPUC public participation fact sheet

    
Instagram @savefallbrookFacebook: Save Fallbrook

  

  

    

    Open the signup form
  






  
If you can do more
More ways to help

  
We need your gifts, talents and expertise
Do you know fire, real estate, insurance, sheriff and evacuation planning, or the energy and technical industries? Your know-how strengthens our push for real alternatives to this project. Tell us what you can bring.

  

    
Put up a sign
On your own property. Signs in the state right-of-way get removed. Ask us for a sign.

    
Write your legislators
Confirm who they are at findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

    
Volunteer
Door-to-door, Spanish outreach, photos of your road, or watching the case calendar. Join the task force.

    
Show up in yellow
Planning group meetings, open houses and CPUC hearings. We'll post dates as they're set.

  

  

    
A multi-community movement

    
Not in anyone's backyard

    
Save Fallbrook opposes SDG&E’s 500-kV Powerlink in every form. We are not asking SDG&E to move this line onto our neighbors. Pauma Valley, Palomar Mountain, Temecula and every community on this corridor deserve the same protection we're asking for. We stand with them.

    
SavePaumaValley.orgSavePalomarMountain.orgSaveTemecula.org

  






  

    
Contact

    
Drop us a line

    
Volunteering, a sign for your yard, information to share, press, or a correction. Or write to us directly at info@savefallbrook.org.

  

  

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

  






  
Check our work
Sources and official links