Sempra Energy’s proposal to build a new transmission line to import electricity into the United States from green energy generators located in Mexico would cost as many as 15,000 U.S. jobs and nearly $300 million in lost local, state and federal tax revenue, according to a new report.

A huge 90 percent of the direct job losses would occur in Imperial County, Calif., which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation in April 2011 at 27.9 percent.

Bob Balgenorth, president of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council, said the report confirms what workers have known all along: Sempra’s plan is a job killer.

This flawed proposal to import energy instead of building projects here undermines President Obama’s vision to create jobs. It is the wrong direction at a time when we should be building green energy projects in the state to put Californians back to work.

Sempra Energy has asked the U.S. Department of Energy for a Presidential Permit to construct a cross-border transmission line, known as Energia Sierra Juarez, between Mexico and California to enable the company to import electricity into California from energy projects in Mexico. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will decide later this year whether or not to allow Sempra’s proposal to proceed

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 Business Manager Johnny Simpson said:

 With construction unemployment at its highest in a generation, we can’t afford to outsource even one construction job as Sempra is proposing to do.

This is not the first time a Sempra proposal would hurt workers. In 2009, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCal), a subsidiary of Sempra, attempted to cut  pensions, jack up health care premiums and cut sick leave.

Click  here to download the report, “Should Green Jobs Be Outsourced: A Case Study of Lost Jobs and Lost Opportunities” by  Peter Philips, professor of economics at the University of Utah.