PUC Docket No. 37260
Southwestern Public Service Company (“SPS”) d/b/a Xcel Energy filed its application on July 21, 2009, requesting approval to construct a proposed 115 kV transmission line in Wheeler County, Texas. The application originally was filed on April 7, 2009, but SPS discovered that the proposed Wheeler substation site was in an area that had poor drainage and allowed water to stand. The application was refiled in Docket No. 37260 and a deadline of intervention was set for September 21, 2009.
The project will be approximately 7 miles long and is estimated to be energized nine months following approval of the CCN application. The proposed transmission line will connect the Wheeler substation to a new Howard substation located in Wheeler County. Although the existing Grave substation would have been the terminus for the project, SPS determined that the Grave substation was inadequate and a site for a new substation is necessary, generally because land is not readily available to expand the Grave substation. Upon completion of the project, the load from the Grave substation will be transferred to the new Howard substation and the Grave substation will be dismantled. The proposed Howard substation is proposed to be located south of F.M. 2473 on the east side of the Wheeler Cemetery.
SPS proposes just three routes, one preferred and two alternate routes. SPS proposes to use single-pole self-supporting structures with a single 115 kV circuit, with the exception of two areas that will double-circuit with existing SPS transmission lines. Those structures will be fabricated from steel. The application states that the single-pole self-supporting structures will not require the use of guy wires on the landowner’s property. Those guy wires often interfere with agricultural activities. The right-of-way will be 60 feet wide. The estimated transmission facilities cost ranges from $2.827 to $3.042 million. The associated substation facilities will cost $10.6 million.
SPS is a member of, and its entire transmission system is located within, the Southwest Power Pool (“SPP”). The SPP has determined that there is a need for an additional transmission line and recommended that SPS construct the project. SPS claims that the project is needed to provide reliable transmission service to existing customers and the growing oil field industry in the eastern Texas Panhandle area and that it will provide additional transmission capacity and voltage strength to both transmission and distribution customers in the area.
The project is one of several projects that were recommended as a result of a March 2006 SPP planning meeting. Other than saying that the timing of the SPP Transmission Expansion Planning models “does not represent realistic schedules for completing the projects,” SPS does not provide reasons for why it has not begun any of the projects or why this project is the initial project to be undertaken.
The SPS application discusses eight alternatives to the proposed project, dismissing each of them for cost or reliability concerns.
SPS Siting and Rights personnel conducted the routing study for the proposed project. Those personnel rejected using the existing US Highway 83 corridor, using as their primary consideration the availability of unobstructed or clean right-of-way adjacent to, or parallel to, existing corridors such as section lines, county roads, and an existing transmission line corridor. Route 1 (the Preferred Route) generally follows section lines and county road rights-of-way and crosses through rangeland and farmland where, for the most part, the proposed right-of-way is free and clear of potential constraints. Route 2 does not follow section lines and bisects properties. Route 3 goes through congested areas with multiple habitable structures.
SPS hired TRC to perform cultural resource and environmental surveys on the proposed routes. The reports are included in the application. The environmental report does include references to possible nesting colonies of the Great Blue Heron and estimated occupied range of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken. The proposed project could impact both of those species. Other species that could be impacted by the proposed project include the Texas horned lizard and the Black-tailed prairie dog. Additional concerns were raised about the possible impact of the project on migratory whooping cranes.
If you want to view filings in the PUC’s docket for this proposed transmission line, click “Login” at the PUC’s Interchange System and enter 37260 in the Control Number box.