On December 4, 2001, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted to prevent electricity transmission lines connecting to the InterGen power plant under construction. The vote was designed to force InterGen to consider taking better air pollution control measures at its plant in Mexico. This approach was also favored by the El Centro City Council on January 16, 2002, when it unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Baja Norte Gas Pipeline that would fuel the InterGen and Sempra plants under construction.

On November 15, 2001, six border area Congressional representatives wrote top officials of the Bush Administration declaring "the importance of taking steps now" to ensure that power plants being built along the border have "the highest level of environmental sustainability using proven and cost-effective technologies." The letter, which was sent to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, and EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, encouraged the use of natural gas fuel first and the use of state-of-the-art catalytic control systems to decrease air pollution. It was signed by Congressional Representatives Susan Davis, Bob Filner, Ruben Hinojosa, Silvestre Reyes, Joe Skeen, and Tom Udall.