HomeMy WebLinkAbout20051918.tiff Department of Energy Western Area Power Administration
• Rocky Mountain Customer Service Region
Rocky P.O.Box 3700
Loveland, CO 80539-3003
JUN 24 2005
Board of Weld County Commissioners
915 Tenth Street
P.O. Box 758
Greeley, CO 80632
Dear Board of Weld County Commissioners:
The Western Area Power Administration (Western) sent you a letter on October 22, 2004, to
inform you of our proposal to upgrade a transmission line in Morgan and Weld Counties. The
name of the transmission line project is the Beaver Creek-Hoyt-Erie 115-kV Transmission Line
Upgrade (Project). This letter is an update on this project.
Western is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) for this proposal. In the EA, Western
will analyze potential environmental and land use issues related to the Project. Western will
invite you to review and comment on the pre-approval EA which is scheduled to be available in
August. It will be available in electronic and hardcopy formats. Please let me know how many
copies of the pre-approval EA you would like for review. If you would like us to send the EA to
particular persons in your organization, we can accommodate your request if you send us a list of
recipients. If you are not interested in reviewing the EA, please let me know.
The proposal is to upgrade the existing 115-kV transmission line to a double-circuit
230-kV transmission line. The new line would be constructed with single pole steel structures.
Western serves Morgan County Rural Electric Association (MCREA) with this line. The line
also interconnects with the Brighton Substation and with the Erie Substation. Because MCREA
and other interconnections are at 115 kV, one of the circuits on the new line will be operated at
115 kV so that interconnected facilities will not have to be upgraded. The Project would
increase the capacity of the line to carry electricity, and would improve some electrical system
operating characteristics that are exacerbated by the limited capacity of the existing line.
The existing transmission line is located largely on private land. During the past several months,
Western has been discussing this Project with the affected landowners. Western has spoken to, or
met with, nearly every landowner on the existing route, as well as those who could be affected by
potential alternative routings. A few landowners requested that Western look for ways to
accommodate improvements to agricultural operations, primarily irrigation practices. Western has
tried to accommodate these requests. Western must consider costs associated with reroutes
including new easements, materials, and engineering. The enclosed map shows you the Project and
where Western has identified alternative routes that will be examined in the EA.
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2
Western identified a possible reroute for approximately the first 6 miles of line as it leaves the
Beaver Creek Substation. The area around the existing transmission line, constructed in 1952,
has become fairly congested and restricted over the last 53 years by development at Brush,
Colorado. Western identified an alternative that consists of removing the existing transmission
lines and moving them east to an existing transmission line corridor. The possible benefits of
this alternative are: it will remove the lines from congested areas south of Brush; improve land
use options for some landowners; avoid the seasonally wet areas of the Brush Prairie Ponds State
Wildlife Area, which are difficult to access with large equipment for routine maintenance or
emergencies; locate the lines in an established utility corridor; and improve Western's ability to
maintain the line. The EA will discuss these and other issues in detail.
If you have any questions on this project, please feel free to contact me at the address, telephone
number, or e-mail below.
Jim Hartman, Environmental Manager
Western Area Power Administration
Rocky Mountain Region
P.O. Box 3700
5555 East Crossroads Boulevard
Loveland, CO 80539
Phone: 970-461-7450
E-mail: hartman@wapa.gov
Sincerely,
James G. Hartman
Environmental Manager
Enclosure
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