Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, except subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 66645, and notwithstanding any provision of Division 19 (commencing with Section 29000) of the Public Resources Code, new or expanded thermal electric generating plants may be constructed within the Suisun Marsh, as defined in Section 29101 of the Public Resources Code, or the area of jurisdiction of the commission, if the proposed site has been determined, pursuant to the provisions of Section 25516.1 of the Public Resources Code, by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to have greater relative merit than available alternative sites and related facilities for an applicant’s service area which have been determined to be acceptable pursuant to the provisions of Section 25516 of the Public Resources Code.