Neighbors Organized to Protect Our Community

Neighbors Organized to Protect Our Community (NOPOC) is a grassroots, all-volunteer, nonprofit association that is working to preserve and protect our community. When PG&E applied to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to construct the Santa Cruz 115 Kilovolt Reinforcement Project, NOPOC questioned whether this ill-conceived and environmentally harmful project was necessary to maintain reliable power in Santa Cruz County.

Community members rallied to oppose the project. Analysis by NOPOC’s independent power engineer using PG&E’s own data showed that the project was unnecessary. On March 26, 2015, CPUC President Michael Picker and four commissioners voted unanimously to dismiss PG&E’s application for a permit to construct the controversial power line project after PG&E and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which oversees the statewide power grid, agreed that the project was not needed in the next 10 years.

Following this victory for the environment, wildlife, ratepayers, and the quality of life in Santa Cruz County, NOPOC has gone on hiatus. Although currently inactive, the association remains vigilant in case another environmentally harmful project is proposed in the future. NOPOC stands ready to protect our community.

We would like to thank Mariposa Kercheval for her hard work in providing this interactive Google map of the proposed Santa Cruz 115 kV Reinforcement Project. It allows you to zoom in and see the whole route in one map, as opposed to the 14 separate maps provided by PG&E.