Wine Country & Tourism

In 2023, Temecula Valley Wine Country generated $905 million in regional economic impact across 47 wineries and roughly 33,000 acres, supporting 5,606 jobs and drawing 1.2 million paid tastings — up 75% since 2018. ^[1] Its product is fundamentally scenic: rolling vineyards, open hills, and dark evening skies.

Lattice towers up to 200 feet tall in or beside that viewshed threaten the very scenery the industry sells — an industrial skyline by day, and blinking red aviation lights over the valley's dark skies by night (covered under Dark Skies & Nighttime Lighting). Wineries and tourism interests have already begun publicly opposing the project. ^{[1] [2]}

The harm isn't only what you'd see. A 500 kV line emits a low hum and crackle — corona noise — that is loudest in rain and fog, and the corridor runs along Temecula Creek past the De Portola Wine Trail, the cluster of wineries off Anza Road on the valley's southeastern end. This sound carries only a few hundred feet to about a quarter-mile before fading into the background, so it would not reach the northern wineries on Rancho California Road — but for the tasting patios closest to the line, a wet-weather hum is a new intrusion on exactly the quiet, open-air experience these wineries sell. ^{[3] [4]}