History…tends to make clear who truly are leaders and who are political blowhards.

Gilbert created Santan plant debacle

We're anxious for history to clear up the picture on the controversial proposed Santan power plant expansion.

There's so much smoke blowing now it's hard to see what's what.

History makes clear the planning mistakes of Gilbert's past. The town was too willing to become one of the fastest-growing bedroom communities in the United States. Its focus was on houses. The more, the better - even if it meant placing neighbors next to existing land uses that might not be the most suitable for homes.

Gilbert approved residential developments in the 1990s that went right up against the Salt River Project's power plant, which has been in existence since the 1970s. It was a severe planning mistake not to create a commercial/industrial buffer zone around the power plant.

We also see now from the California experience, the results of a long history of foolish experimentation with supply, demand and market forces for electricity. People suffer.

The Salt River Project says it needs new generation, not just more transmission lines, to keep pace with population growth in the East Valley and the high demand for reliable, affordable electricity. Look at the amount of power that is available and what will be needed in the near future, and it's easy to see the regional energy crisis on the horizon.

But for some people, the horizon is only as far away as the back yard. The future is today.

And today, we have a situation in which town leaders have caved to political pressures of vocal, minority opposition. The Gilbert Town Council approved on a 3-2 vote this week a resolution that opposes the plant expansion project, until a long list of neighborhood concerns are addressed. Never mind that those concerns were addressed in more than 20 days of public hearings on the Santan.

The resolution also comes a year after the same Gilbert Town Council approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Salt River Project about 825-megawatt expansion plan. The town, then, will send mixed signals to the Arizona Corporation Commission when it hears arguments this month about whether to give final approval for the plant's expansion.

History also tends to make clear who truly are leaders and who are political blowhards, willing to put regional needs and community vitality ahead of their concerns for winning elections and popularity contests.

We already have an idea who's who in Gilbert. There are fewer leaders there than we thought.

The Arizona Republic editorials represent the position of the newspaper, whose editorial board consists of Keven Willey, Phil Boas, Jennifer Dokes, Doug MacEachern, Joel Nilsson, O. Ricardo Pimentel, Robert Robb, Laurie Roberts, Linda Valdez, Ken Western and Steve Benson.