Public can sound off on energy-line options
Sharyland Utilities is asking what people think about several new alternatives for wind energy-transmission lines near Amarillo.
The company is proposing more choices that swing farther around the city to the northwest and southeast.
The northwest choices run north from near Hereford, across Interstate 40 on two sides of Wildorado then northeast to the planned substation near White Deer.
The southeast route runs east from the Hereford area and turns north toward White Deer, crossing Palo Duro Canyon near Texas Highway 207.
The extra choices came at the request of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas at a recent progress meeting, said Jeanne Phillips, a Sharyland spokeswoman.
The company is also still considering most of its previously proposed routes.
Sharyland mailed notices to landowners near the new alternatives this week. It will hold public meetings to provide detailed information and take comments from them and the general public.
The company is working to develop a preferred route for the segment near Amarillo and several other lines in the Panhandle and South Plains to propose to the PUCT. It must also present alternatives to its preferred route.
“The PUCT staff can also recommend additional alternative routes,” Phillips said. “Ultimately, the PUCT selects and approves the final route.”
The process is standard operating procedure but is much larger in scope than many projects. Panhandle and South Plains construction, covering up to 600 miles total by Sharyland and Cross Texas Transmission, is slated to cost $1 billion.
“It’s not that different from any transmission line application,” said Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the PUCT. “Before there’s a filing, they’ll reach out to the community with informal meetings and discuss the proposal with our staff in hopes of getting feedback before making the actual application.”
There are other consultations as well, including with local elected officials.
“Our collaboration process is extensive and includes landowners, all stakeholders, numerous federal, state and local agencies” such as the Texas Historical Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Federal Aviation Administration, Phillips said.
The PUCT is hoping to approve applications within six months of an application.
“The bottom line is a line that is most cost effective because those costs are ultimately passed on to consumers,” Hadley said. “We also want a line that is as unobtrusive as possible, affecting as few landowners as possible.”
The proposed transmission line from Hereford to White Deer will be about 90 miles long, depending on the route approved by the PUCT, and will require a 175-foot-wide right of way.
By Kevin Welch
Amarillo Globe-News
5 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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