Piedmont officials to discuss power line plans
PIEDMONT — Residents concerned about a plan for a massive power line are expected to crowd into a city council meeting Monday evening, Councilman John Brown said.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. plans to build a 120-mile wind power transmission line from near Woodward to northwest Oklahoma City. The line would cut across the most valuable land in Piedmont and would go over several homes platted to be built or that are already built, Brown said.
Brown said OG&E officials have told him they plan to move the line 200 feet farther north of his house along Edmond Road NE near Morgan Road. The line would have gone over the spot where his father plans to build a house and 400 feet from his existing house on the property.
Brown said he is glad the line will be moved, but he is not happy it is coming through the middle of Piedmont.
“As a city councilman this doesn’t change my attitude, but they did do the best they could do for me,” he said.
The council meeting, at city hall, begins at 7 p.m.
Brown said he has taken dozens of telephone calls from residents who are upset about the power line, which will carry 345,000 volts of electricity atop 115-foot-tall poles.
He said one property owner is planning to pursue legal action to keep the line off his property. Others are planning to attend the council meeting, Brown said.
OG&E officials are considering having another public meeting for residents and landowners to voice concerns with the plans, company spokesman Gil Broyles said.
Broyles said OG&E contract workers are now contacting landowners to acquire right of way easements for the line. Plans call for the power line to be built by 2010.
By Robert Medley
Staff Writer
26 July 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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