I've wondered about the sizes of power plants-- in terms of their MW outputs-- and found that the nuclear plants at Rancho Seco, Diablo Canyon, and San Onofre are in the 900-1100MW range. (Several of those have been closed or will be closed.) Metcalf, at 600MW and non-nuclear, is certainly larger than "institutional" plants like at Stanford and Cal, but not a "monster-class" producer.
Source: www.insc.anl.gov

Another fact. Each day, over 400 tons (yes!) of auto emission pollutants are released into Bay Area air. The bulk of this "production" occurs during the morning commute in the SF-OAK area. Prevailing air currents and geography cause the pollutants drift mostly southward. Along the way, they are "cooked" by a combination of rising temperatures and low winds, and-- voila!-- ozone and smog. These conditions develop mostly in July, August, and September.

Industrial boilers, stationary internal combustion engines, and gas turbines emit about 56 tons per day. In this context, the half ton PER DAY (186 divided by 365) from the proposed MEC seems a bit of a yawner. This is about equivalent to the emissions produced by the use of backyard barbecue charcoal lighter fluid, and a lot more than the 5 tons a day that comes from just pumping gas.

Source: www.sparetheair.org

None of this may ally fears of locals. But I'm operating on the perhaps naive premise that facts and reason ought to influence more than politics and press releases.

Jim Cosgrove