The Vancouver City Council approved a resolution Monday night letting the Bonneville Power Administration know they’d appreciate it if the federal agency would keep its proposed high-voltage power lines out of the urban area.
Of the proposed routes through Clark County for a new 500,000-kilovolt line, the city’s resolution states at least two lie within the city limits, and more are in the growth area, according to the resolution.
In the three-page document, the city acknowledges the need for the new line.
But it also states that the 150-foot towers would “have dramatic and long-term effects on homes and businesses in Vancouver,” and asks Bonneville to choose the “least disruptive route possible.”
No authority
The council does not have any authority over the decision on where a new line would go — beyond several environmental impact studies, that call rests with the BPA.
But by drafting the resolution, the city council has officially stepped into a high-tension debate between concerned citizens and the BPA.
Bonneville officials say the Troutdale, Ore., to Castle Rock line is necessary to ease congestion in the Northwest’s power grid, which it says will be overloaded by 2016 without the new line.
Residents have held rallies and flooded the agency with worries about the health effects of such a line and property values.
Even though the city’s resolution has no binding authority, a BPA project manager said that the power marketing agency takes comments from the public and local jurisdictions into consideration.
Mark Korsness, manager of the Interstate 5 Corridor Reinforcement Project, said Monday afternoon that he had not heard of the city council’s plans for a resolution.
“I think the city’s desire to have it located elsewhere is consistent with other landowners,” Korsness said. “Regardless if they have any authority over a decision, we are interested in their position and their issues and directly working on them with these issues.”
One possible route within the city limits is a major contender for the eventual route alignment: An existing 230,000-volt line already carries electricity along I-5 and through Vancouver.
It’s wide enough to accommodate the second 500,000-volt line, which the BPA says is necessary to ease congestion in the Northwest’s transmission grid. The agency owns the land already, and therefore would not have to go through the tough and expensive process of buying easements from private property owners.
Stronger message
The city’s resolution started as a draft letter from the city to the BPA after the agency gave an update on the project to the council on May 3. The letter expresses particular concern for the “potential for lost property tax value due to the depreciation of property tax values,” but did not explicitly ask Bonneville to stay out of the urban area.
Following a robust e-mail chain, the council discussed the topic at its May 17 meeting, and decided a more firmly worded resolution was best.
The council approved it 6 to 1, with Councilor Jeanne Stewart opposing the resolution because it did not include a clause asking that, should the BPA decide to put a line through Vancouver, the lines run underground. Bonneville has said that option would substantially add to the current estimated $300 million to $400 million cost to build the new line.
While council members agreed that underground lines were the best option, they decided to bring that up with the federal agency if it ultimately decides on a Vancouver alignment.
Construction on any part of the project will not begin until 2012 at the earliest.
