CBad, SDG&E and NRG close to deal

The city would acquire 20-plus acres of land with the possibility of taking ownership of a beach bluff, middle and inner portions of Agua Hedionda Lagoon

Negotiators for the City of Carlsbad, San Diego Gas & Electric and NRG have formed the foundation for the city to take ownership of up to more than 150 acres stemming from a 2014 settlement agreement. Courtesy image

CARLSBAD — A decade later a resolution appears to be found.

The Carlsbad City Council greenlit further negotiations during its Dec. 12 meeting showed signs of a potential agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric and NRG regarding a 2014 settlement over the demolished Encina Power Station and reverting land to the city.

However, the land acquisition won’t be as much as the city expected per the terms of the original settlement agreement, although two caveats give the city the potential to acquire more than 130 acres encompassing the middle and inner portions of Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The city, NRG and SDG&E met more than 18 times this year with NRG proposing what is being to referred as the “Seaside option,” according to Gary Barberio, Carlsbad’s deputy city manager.

If a deal fails to materialize, NRG owes the city $10 million. The deal is contingent on all parties agreeing with final approval coming from the California Public Utilities Commission, Barberio said.

“One of the biggest pieces in that agreement was in exchange for the city supporting an application by NRG to the California Energy Commission for an amended application to get approved a 500-megawatt power plant, that was the peaker plant between the railroad tracks and I-5 (Interstate),” he explained. “In exchange for that support, the 1,000-megawatt Encina Power Station … would be shut down, decommissioned and demolished. That was one of the biggest community benefits in that 2014 community agreement.”