Docket No. 37248
On July 24, 2009, AEP North Texas Company (AEP) filed an application for approval of a 69/138 kV transmission line in Childress County, Texas. The intervention deadline for this project is September 7, 2009.
The proposed transmission line would extend from the Brazos Electric Henry Substation to the existing Childress 20th Street Substation. AEP proposes six routes, with five of them traversing primarily commercial areas along and/or across US 62/US 83 and US 287 highways. Route 3, the Preferred Route, will utilize existing transmission line rights-of-way (ROW) for approximately 67% of its length. The estimated cost of the proposed project is $2,076,851. If the application is not opposed and approved administratively, AEP expects to energize the proposed facilities by the end of 2009.
In its application, AEP states that construction of the proposed project will reduce the transmission line exposure for service to the Childress 20th Street Substation and improve transmission service reliability to distribution load. AEP also determined that it would be prudent to construct the line as 138 kV capable but initially operate the line at 69 kV. The potential for wind energy being transferred from the north-northwest Texas area toward load areas located in the east and the southeast leads to anticipate that some of this energy will impact the underlying transmission grid. This project is not, however, identified as a CREZ transmission project.
Oncor retained PBS&J, an engineering firm, to prepare its Environmental Assessment and Alternative Route Analysis (EA). In total, six primary alternative routes were selected and discussed in the application. AEP’s application provides detailed information about the evaluation of the routes. The summary information includes such items as: length of route, length of route parallel to existing transmission lines, highways, pipelines, railroads, and property boundaries; length of route through commercial areas, pastures, cropland, forest and wetlands; number of habitable structures within 500 feet of a route; and cost of constructing the route.
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