6 San Diego Reader January 5, 2017


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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS By Reader stringers LOMA PORTAL


The monster eucalyptus next door


Roots cut from old trees during sidewalk project Shelly Schwartlander has been living at the Point Loma Tennis Club since 1991. The complex, built in 1968, sits on 13 acres and has approximately 260 trees of many different species. But it’s the eucalyptus trees that keep Schwartlander awake at night. She says they are overgrown with heavy branches and the roots have been removed. “For a few years I have tried unsuccess-


fully to get [the homeowners’ association] to reduce the heavy limbs of a 90-foot and a 80-foot eucalyptus tree as an independent certified arborist advised should be done in fall of 2014,” she said. “Now, at the end of 2016, the overgrown


trees threaten two 3-story buildings — at 4012 Valeta Street — that each have 26 units, as the trees are less than six feet from the buildings, lean close to the buildings, and the heavy


to involve the city, although she was told someone would “check it out.” “We pay [ homeowners’ association] fees


which cover the landscaping and mainte- nance,” said Schwartlander. “I served on the board last year and wasn’t even allowed to mention the trees. They won’t listen. There’s no way to justify it. It’s a dangerous situation for everybody around here.”


DELINDA LOMBARDO


ESCONDIDO Peaker plant? Nah. Battery array touted as clean- energy alternative The nation’s largest battery storage for energy is being constructed in Escondido — part of the shift away from fuel-burning power plants to cleaner energy, which can’t be switched on when needed. San Diego Gas & Electric has contrac-


tors building the 30-megawatt lithium-ion array on the 1.5-acre Escondido lot that the company already owns. There’s already a substation in that industrial park tucked into the southwest corner of where the SR-15 intersects Highway 78 (a second, 7.5-MW storage plant is being sited in El Cajon). The facility will contain 24 steel cabinets


of lithium-ion batteries that can hold about 1.25 megawatts each. “We expect to have it done at the end


of January, or early in 2017,” said SDG&E spokeswoman Christy Ihrig, who confirmed it is the largest battery storage facility in the U.S. “Thirty megawatts is enough power for about 20,000 homes for up to four hours.” The battery array will let the utility store energy dur- ing off-peak hours and then circulate it during high-demand hours, including early evening when many people get home and start turning everything on, she said. Virginia-based


Landscapers removed roots to make a new sidewalk in September.


limbs are over the buildings and walkway…. Not only are they neglected, but the landscap- ers have removed the roots from both trees in December 2015 and then again in September 2016 to make room for a sidewalk.” After the root removal, Schwartlander said


it “looked like a graveyard full of tree roots… huge amounts of roots dug up right at the tree trunks, roots filling large garbage bins full and roots as wide as ten inches or so close up…. With the amount of roots removed, it’s hard to imagine the trees are stable, especially as eucalyptus don’t have deep roots.” Since the Point Loma Tennis Club is pri- vate property, Schwartlander hasn’t been able


AES Storage touts the batteries as a cleaner, less costly approach than the use of “peaker


plants” — power-generating plants that fire up or fire higher at peak-demand times. According to the battery-maker, power from storage costs less than peaker-plant power. “It’s a more flexible and reliable system


that lets us store energy from clean energy sources like solar and wind power,” Ihrig said. Peak demand times don’t line up with clean- energy peak-production times. The battery arrays are in temperature- and humidity- controlled containers that look much like the containers that go from semi-trailers to ships. But the containers are laden with high-tech software and monitors and security features beyond padlocks.


The battery is being installed on the SDG&E substation property.


In 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered SDG&E, Pacific Gas & Electric, and SoCal Edison to create facilities to store energy. The goal at the time was for California’s three largest power providers to be able to store 1325 MW of power by 2020. SDG&E put out a request for proposals in


October 2014 and selected AES to construct the project this year.


MARTY GRAHAM


DOWNTOWN Jay Leno already has one Car freaks hit car show The darling of the 2017 San Diego Interna- tional Auto Show that opened December 29 was Ford’s new production vehicle, a bright red GT with gull-wing doors that pumps out 600 horsepower with a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter, V-6 engine. “Jay Leno already has one,” said a Ford


representative. The company will produce only 500 over the next two years. Under the watchful eyes of security guards, a crowd surrounded the roped-off turntable and posed for pictures. When made avail- able to the public, the retail price will be just under $400,000. Jeep had an off-road course set up for


people to ride in their vehicles (driven by a company driver). The course included a ramp angled at 35 degrees. Over a hundred people lined up for the experience known as


“Camp Jeep.” In the “Exotics


Ford’s 600-horsepower GT Escondido approved the project in Sep-


tember, according to city records. Because the site already has a substation and is in an area zoned for heavy industrial use, the application to the city didn’t face any serious challenges. No one in the area around the storage plant raised concerns or objected, according to file documents.


Vault” show area were the fastest and most valuable cars on dis- play. A 1200-horse- power, modified GT 3RS Porsche would clock out at around 190 mph. But where? “Only on a race track,” said King Aminpour, a San Diego–based high-end car insurer who co-sponsored the


exotic displays. The most expensive? Aminpour pointed


to a Rolls Royce Phantom, “Mine, right there.” His name was on the front license plate. The $500,000 car is wrapped in 3M gold metallic vinyl. San Diego State’s Aztec Racing Club


showed off their 2016/’17 custom-built race car. Each year in June, SDSU engineering students complete at a national race in Lin- coln, Nebraska. “We have students in mechanical engi-


neering, electronics, aerospace, and computer science,” said SDSU student Tim Klimpel, who is the engine-systems lead on their car. “We even have business majors and art stu- dents participating on the team, interested in the business aspect of racing and the art of design.” The club’s goal is to show prospective


employers the capabilities of engineering students. “We practically execute what we learn in the classroom,” said student Dan Jennings, the team’s chief engineer. As an example of auto engineering student innova-


SDSU students Tim Klimpel and Dan Jennings


tion, Jennings mentioned a group of student engineers from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland, that has developed the fastest all-electric vehicle: 0–60 MPH in 1.513 seconds. “We students aren’t just sitting in the classroom,” said Jennings. The first San Diego auto show was in


Balboa Park in 1928. Only eight cars were shown at what was perceived at the time as “revolutionary works of transportation.” At the 2017 show, 30 car manufacturers were represented, including for the first time Fer- rari and Maserati.


■ KEN HARRISON


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