The California Energy Commission's Gateway Power Project AFC Committee is reviewing an application by Mirant Delta,LLC, (formerly Southern Energy Delta, LLC) to construct a 530-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant. The project would be located at the existing Gateway power plant site formerly owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (at Wilbur Avenue, one mile northeast of Antioch, on the southern shore of the San Joaquin River. Highway 4 and the Antioch Bridge are just east of the site).

The Committee will conduct workshops covering all impacts of the proposed power plant. The public and interested agencies are encouraged to attend and make comments on the topics to be discussed listed in the side bar to the left. Written comments on the workshop topics can be submitted to the Energy Commission, Docket Unit (MS-4), 1516 - 9th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Please send one original and 11 copies of all documents. Refer to Docket No. 00-AFC-1.

Documents for Workshops:

The Staff of the Energy Commission has published an independent analysis in the Preliminary Staff Assessment (PSA) which will be followed by the Final Staff Assessment (FSA). These Assessments evaluate potential project impacts for each topic listed in the side bar.

The Final Staff Assessment will be available as of March 2, 2001, in a printed version as well as for viewing on the Energy Commission Web Site: www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/contracosta. You can obtain a printed copy of the Final Staff Assessment by contacting the Energy Commission Staff's Project Manager, Cheri Davis, at 916-657-4394 or e-mail at cdavis@energy.state.ca.us.

Delta Diablo Sanitation District Boardroom
2500 Pittsburg-Antioch Highway
Antioch, CA 94509

A toll-free conference call can be arranged for those unable to attend the workshop in Sacramento. You must make a reservation for a toll-free telephone line no later than March 21, 2001. Please contact Roberta Mendonca, the Public Adviser at 800-822-6228 or 916-654-4489 or pao@energy.state.ca.us.

The purpose of the workshops is to carefully examine public health and safety, environmental impacts and engineering aspects of the proposed power plant and all related facilities.

The Committee Workshops are an informal (non-legalistic) forum to have the Applicant, agencies, intervenors, and the public respond to the Staff's analysis in the Final Staff Assessment.

If the Applicant, agencies, intervenors, or the public believe that the Staff's assessment or proposed mitigation is insufficient, they may offer additions or modifications to the Staff's analysis or proposed mitigation or conditions so that consensus may be reached.

For the Committee, the goal is to attempt early consensus on undisputed matters; this could include a complete description of a potential project impact and satisfactory conditions or alternatives to mitigate the associated potential impact, all sufficient for inclusion in the Presiding Member's Proposed Decision.

Alternatively, any party to the proceeding (Applicant, Staff, or Intervenor) may indicate at the pre-hearing conference concluding the workshops that it cannot reach consensus on a matter and may seek to adjudicate a material dispute of fact in a subsequent, formal evidentiary hearing.

Anyone with a legitimate interest relevant to the siting of the proposed power plant may file a Petition to Intervene and become a formal party to this proceeding. Party status provides the rights to present independent evidence, receive pertinent documents, and cross-examine witnesses; it also imposes the duty to comply with various orders, procedures, and filing requirements, as well as be subject to cross-examination by other parties.

In this proceeding, a Petition to Intervene shall be filed no later than March 27, 2001. The Energy Commission, through its Public Adviser's office, will assist anyone interested in preparing a Petition to Intervene. Contact Roberta Mendonca, the Public Adviser at 916-654-4489 or toll-free 800-822-6228 or by e-mail at pao@energy.state.ca.us.

On each topic identified in the side bar above, the Hearing Officer will pose the following set of standard questions:

1. Is the Staff's assessment of the potential impact of the project complete and accurate? If not, explain and identify references.

2. Is the Staff's proposed mitigation and/or condition complete and effective? If not, what additional or more effective mitigation, condition, or project alternative is reasonably necessary, feasible and available?

The Committee expects responses to these questions from the Applicant, any participating public agency, and any participating party. Members of the public will also have an opportunity at the workshops to address these questions.

To encourage a free exchange of information at the workshops, an unaccepted offer of compromise on any matter may not be used later during evidentiary hearings without the consent of the party making the offer.

See Appendix A

Prior to the conclusion of the workshop on March 27, 2001, the Committee will conduct a pre-hearing conference to assess readiness for evidentiary hearings, to identify areas of agreement and dispute, and discuss procedures for the evidentiary hearing. All Petitions to Intervene must be submitted no later than March 27, 2001.

During the Committee Workshops, the Committee or Hearing Officer will maintain a list of topics (See Appendix A) which will include, among other things, an indication of whether any party requests an opportunity to present evidence or cross-examine a witness on that topic and the nature of the expected testimony. Therefore, the filing and service of a Pre-hearing Conference Statement are optional for any party participating in the Pre-hearing Conference.

Any party intending to present a witness at the evidentiary hearing who is not present at the Pre-hearing Conference shall file and serve a statement identifying the issue to be presented and the name of the witness(s) on or before March 27, 2001.

Members of the public may participate in all phases of the licensing process in a variety of ways. If you need information concerning public participation, please contact Roberta Mendonca, the Energy Commission's Public Adviser, at 916-654-4489 or, toll free in California, at 800-822-6228, or by e-mail at: pao@energy.state.ca.us

Information concerning the status of the project, notices and other relevant documents are available on the Commission's Web Site at: www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/contracosta

Technical questions concerning the project should be addressed to the Energy Commission StaffÕs Project Manager, Cheri Davis, at 916-657-4394 or e-mail at: cdavis@energy.state.ca.us.

Questions of a legal or procedural nature should be directed to Garret Shean, the Hearing Officer, at 916-654-3893 or e-mail at: gshean@energy.state.ca.us

Media inquiries should be directed to Claudia Chandler, Assistant Executive Director for Media and Public Communications, at 916-654-4989 or by e-mail at: energia@energy.ca.gov