LCRA plans meetings on new routes for wind power transmission lines
Credit: The Boerne Star, boernstar.com 6 February 2010
LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC) invites the public to attend open houses planned this month in Junction, Menard, Mason, Fredericksburg, Eldorado, Kerrville and Sonora concerning a new transmission line project expected to be built by 2013. The project will impact property owners in Schleicher, Sutton, Menard, Kimble, Mason, Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie counties.
LCRA TSC will host the “come-and-go” style open houses as an opportunity to inform citizens about the McCamey D-to-Kendall-to-Gillespie Transmission Project and to gather public input concerning line routing. The transmission lines will move wind power from northern Schleicher County to substations in Kendall and Gillespie counties.
The open houses will not include a formal presentation. Rather, attendees may visit the open houses anytime during the posted hours. They are encouraged to ask questions of staff, view aerial photography maps to locate their property and look at a number of exhibits that explain the project, the line siting process, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) approval process and other related topics.
The open-house events closest to Kendall County and of most interest to local residents are scheduled Feb. 18 in Fredericksburg and Feb. 23 in Kerrville. The Fredericksburg open house is scheduled 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at Pioneer Pavilion, 432 Lady Bird Drive. The Kerrville event is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Cailloux Campus Activity Center, 2100 Memorial Blvd., Schreiner University.
Other open house events include:
• Junction — Monday, Feb. 15; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Coke R. Stevenson Memorial Center, 440 N. U.S. Highway 83.
• Menard — Tuesday, Feb. 16; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Menard Community Center, 301 W. Travis St.
• Mason — Wednesday, Feb. 17; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Mason Community Building, Fort Mason City Park, 1051 San Antonio St.
• Eldorado — Monday, Feb. 22; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Schleicher County Civic Center, 427 U.S. Highway 277.
• Sonora — Wednesday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sutton County Civic Center, 1700 N. Crockett Ave.
LCRA TSC hosted several open houses for this project in May 2009, when 1,900 people registered. Since then, the original study area has been expanded, and several new route segments have been added. LCRA TSC is hosting the February open houses to inform and gather input from the potentially affected landowners located along the new route segments added since last May.
Almost 3,450 letters concerning the open houses were mailed on Jan. 29 to potentially affected landowners. These newly noticed landowners are located along the new route segments that were added for study last fall at the joint request of LCRA TSC and the PUC.
Those are routes along and/or in the rights of way of U.S. Highway 277 and Interstate 10; routes running parallel to an existing 138-kilovolt (kV) line that traverses Menard, Mason and Gillespie counties; and routes running parallel to and in the same corridor as certain proposed segments for the Kendall-to-Gillespie project, north of the Kendall Station.
More than 1,900 people registered at open houses held last May in San Angelo, Christoval, Junction, Harper, Comfort, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Llano, Burnet and Lampasas for this project and the related Gillespie-to-Newton Project.
The addition of the new routes does not eliminate any routes currently being considered by LCRA TSC, nor does it mean that any of the new routes will be selected by the PUC for construction. All potentially affected landowners originally notified in May 2009 are still considered “noticed,” although they may not receive a new notice at this time. It is important that those potentially affected landowners who received notices last year remain engaged in the process.
The PUC has directed LCRA TSC to provide several geographically diverse routes to consider for selection. After consulting with PUC staff, reviewing a large amount of public input and considering numerous routing proposals, LCRA TSC and PUC staff requested and were granted a motion to delay the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity filing for this project in order to study the feasibility of the additional routes.
LCRA TSC proposes to construct two new, 345-kV transmission lines, primarily on double-circuit capable lattice structures. The first transmission line will be a double-circuit line that will connect the designated McCamey D Station, to be located in northern Schleicher County, to the existing Kendall Station, located in western Kendall County. LCRA TSC will install both circuits on this transmission line. The first transmission line may be located in portions of Schleicher, Sutton, Menard, Kimble, Mason, Llano, Gillespie, Kerr and Kendall counties.
The second transmission line will connect the existing Kendall Station, located in western Kendall County, to the existing Gillespie Station, located in central Gillespie County. LCRA TSC initially will install one circuit on double-circuit capable lattice structures, which will accommodate a second circuit when necessary. The second transmission line may be located in portions of Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie counties.
For more information about these and other CREZ-related projects, look online at www.lcra.org/crez. Select the individual project for line-specific information. Property owner may also contact Sara Morgenroth, regulatory case manager, at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 4151.LCRA plans meetings on new routes for wind power transmission lines
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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