SAN DIEGO —— On Monday, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. will start holding meetings showing potential corridors for its proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line, which could cross Ramona, Valley Center, or other backcountry areas of the county from a substation in Imperial Valley.

If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, the line would bring in solar and wind-generated electricity from Imperial County, and possibly conventionally generated electricity from Mexico.

The map of potential routes and explanatory information is still being put together and was not ready as of Wednesday, said Stephanie Donovan, a SDG&E spokeswoman, in response to a North County Times request to view the possible routes.

"Our environmental firm (assisting in locating the routes) has been looking at opportunities and constraints," Donovan said. "What we're looking at is getting the best opportunities with the fewest constraints."

"Constraints" she said, are natural obstacles such as lakes, as well as man-made structures such as schools, churches and cemeteries. "Opportunities" are already existing paths that a transmission line could easily use, such as freeway rights-of-way.

The first of two "working group" meetings will be held in Rancho Penasquitos on Monday from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Doubletree Golf Resort. On Tuesday, the second session will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Ramona Elementary School in Ramona.

These meetings are mainly intended for enviromental and consumer groups, as well as representatives of Indian reservations and public properties such as the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which could be in the project's path.

Although the exact route is not known, the utiilty has said the line will link up with a new substation, planned for an oval-shaped area encompassing Ramona and Julian, reaching to Warner Springs. A separate transmission line will bring power from that substation west across Interstate 15 to an existing substation in Carmel Valley.

Next week's meetings will be followed by four public "open houses," which will give the public a chance to talk directly with the team that is designing the project.

On Nov. 29, the first open house will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Valley Center Community Center. On Nov. 30, one will also be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at Scripps Miramar Ranch Library. On Dec. 1, an open house will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Borrego Springs Resort. And the last open house, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 6, comes back to Ramona; it takes plac at the Ramona Community Center.

Information about the "constraints" and "opportunities" is being digitally overlaid in map form with GIS (Geographic Information Service) software, Donovan said. With such software, databases showing objects of interest are overlaid onto a map.

"Every school, every day care center, every cemetery, every sign of habitation will be added in layers onto the map, as well as the other constraints and opportunities," Donovan said.

Opposition may come from environmental groups and the watchdog group Utility Consumers' Action Network, which has questioned why other alternatives have not been pursued.

After the public reaction to this map of proposed routes is digested, a third round of meetings will be held, maybe in February, Donovan said. The utility hopes to get a final plan ready in time to present to the Public Utilities Commission by mid-2006, Donovan said.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.