San Jose mayor opposing calls for power plant

The California Energy Commission, however, has the authority to overrule the local decision -- a prospect that has gained favor among legislative leaders as California's power crisis has worsened.

On Thursday, five Democratic state Assembly members from the region said they would introduce a resolution calling for the Energy Commission to overturn San Jose's decision. Among them: Manny Diaz, who opposed the plant last fall when he was on the San Jose City Council, and Simon Salinas, who represents the district where the plant would be built.

"The energy crisis is one of the greatest crises we've faced in the last 100 years in California," said Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara. "And in order to deal with it, Silicon Valley, which is one of the greatest consumers of electricity, needs to also be a supplier."

Hours earlier, Gonzales asked that the resolution be withdrawn, calling instead for a regional energy plan that could be crafted together by state legislators and local officials.

He acknowledged that Silicon Valley's energy demands need to be met with more generating capacity, but he said that could be done by scattering small power plants rather than locating a big one in an environmentally sensitive area.

"Smaller, cleaner, greener facilities throughout our industrial areas is a better solution," the mayor said. "We can meet our energy needs in a far more efficient manner."

The Metcalf plant would be built in San Jose's Coyote Valley, one of the area's last swaths of open space. Cisco Systems Inc. also hopes to build a $1.3 billion office complex in the valley -- a plan that is controversial but supported by the mayor.

Cisco opposes having the Metcalf plant so close to its project. But Gonzales denied that he is against the plant simply to placate the city's largest private employer.<