BPA extends comment period after complaints
A proposed transmission line exists only on paper, but it’s already generating plenty of heat in Clark County.
The Bonneville Power Administration has heard from thousands of residents concerned about the prospect of living next to a high-voltage transmission line carried along towers the size of 15-story buildings. It would be the first new power line of this size constructed between Portland and Longview in four decades.
Hundreds of agitated residents turned out for six open house meetings hosted by BPA, which is in the “scoping” period of the proposal announced in October. Two of those meetings were in Hockinson and one in Amboy.
Some residents complained that the comment period time frame was too short.
On Wednesday, Bonneville representatives told The Columbian’s editorial board that the agency decided to extend the comment period on the scope of the project to Dec. 14. “We want this to be an open process,” said Larry Bekkedahl, Bonneville’s vice president for engineering and technical services.
The issue has reverberated in Washington, D.C.
“We have received many inquiries from constituents who are concerned by the project’s potential impacts on their property,” according to a Tuesday letter jointly signed by U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, and Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver. “Given the size and scope of the project we believe additional time is warranted.”
Bonneville is proposing to run a 500,000-volt power line, complete with lattice steel towers between 80 and 150 feet in height, across one of several possible corridors between new substations in Castle Rock and Troutdale, Ore. Construction wouldn’t begin until 2012 at the earliest.
“There is a real need,” Bekkedahl said.
BPA’s transmission grid has become increasingly congested with the addition of 2,300 megawatts of wind energy capacity east of the Cascades over the past few years — and more is on the way. In addition, Bonneville has over the past couple of years experienced serious constraints on its north-south connection along Interstate 5 during the summer — partly due to the more widespread use of air conditioning.
Energy demand in the Northwest has historically peaked in the winter.
“Summer loads have now come up,” Bekkedahl said. “During the wintertime, California ships (energy) to us.”
Bonneville has contacted about 10,000 landowners along the line.
BPA project manager Mark Korsness said the agency will try to avoid homes along the 150-foot-wide easement it will ultimately need. Bonneville will compensate landowners for the easement it ultimately chooses, but it won’t compensate neighbors for possible property devaluation.
“As far as compensation goes for nearby landowners, there is no vehicle for that,” Korsness said during the editorial board meeting.
The agency is considering the possibility of running the line on an existing easement it already holds for a 230,000-volt transmission line between Vancouver and Longview, but that option also comes with risk. Placing two major lines side by side could put them both at risk of a forest fire, landslide or plane crash. Losing two major north-south lines so close to an urban area “could make it very difficult to reroute electricity without people losing power,” Korsness said in a previous interview.
Bonneville would minimize that risk by “rating” the line at less than full capacity.
“Rather than rate it at 100 percent — and risk all of that electricity being lost at once — it’s rated at a lower capacity so all our eggs aren’t in one basket,” Korsness said.
Bekkedahl said officials expect the 70-mile-long transmission line will cost between $300 million and $400 million, although costs could vary greatly depending on its ultimate alignment. It’s also possible the line may never be built at all, but only if growth projections tail off dramatically.
Bonneville will make a final decision on the proposed I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project in 2012, following completion of a formal environmental impact statement that examines the alternative routes. Officials said they could add, eliminate or amend the alternative routes to be studied early next year, after the scoping process.
Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551, or erik.robinson@columbian.com.
