Line path needs Missouri OK

One of three SWEPCO proposals edges across state line

Representatives of the Missouri Public Service Commission said Thursday that they were unaware of a proposal by Southwestern Electric Power Co. to build part of a high-voltage transmission line in the southwest corner of the state.

One of three favored routes for a proposed 345-kilovolt power line through Northwest Arkansas goes into Missouri and skirts just north of the state line for about 25 miles.

SWEPCO applied with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on April 3 to build the line, which would be at least 46 miles long. But no such application has been filed with the Missouri commission.

Natelle Dietrich, who heads up the utility operations section for the Missouri commission, said applications normally are filed when a final route is chosen, “or at least there was something more definitive.”

Still, if SWEPCO chooses Route 109, the approval process in Missouri could take several months, depending on the number of landowners who want to intervene in the case, said Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for that state’s commission.

The transmission line would be 46 to 59 miles long, depending on the route chosen, and require a 150-footwide right of way. Six towers would be needed every mile and would average 130 feet to 160 feet tall.

A final hearing in Arkansas on the power line will begin Aug. 26 at the Public Service Commission building in Little Rock and could last for several days.

SWEPCO wants to havethe approval process and design engineering done by December, officials have said. After right of way acquisition, construction is slated to begin by March 2015, and the company wants the new line to be in service by June 2016.

The line is necessary to meet growing electricity needs in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, according to SWEPCO. Companies other than SWEPCO would be able to use electricity that is transported by the transmission line.

Dietrich and Kelly said they hadn’t heard about the proposed transmission line for Northwest Arkansas.

Peter Main, a spokesman for SWEPCO, said the company would have to become a public utility in Missouri to build the power line along Route 109.

According to the company’s application with the Arkansas commission, “SWEPCO is not a public utility in Missouri, and it is unprecedented for any non-public utility to construct a line through Missouri without serving any Missouri customers.”

Dietrich said SWEPCO could apply to be a Missouri public utility at the same time it applies for construction of a transmission line. Both could be considered simultaneously, she said.

SWEPCO included Route 109 to provide an option that avoided the congested Interstate 540 corridor in Northwest Arkansas, Main said. But that route “presents regulatory complications and likely delay,” he said.

Route 109 depicts the only “feasible northern route” alternative for the transmission line, according to testimony filed April 3 by Brian A.Johnson of Tulsa, a project manager for American Electric Power Co. SWEPCO is a subsidiary of American Electric Power.

Bella Vista is a “highly developed” commercial and residential area, Johnson wrote.

“If the route had been designed to stay in Arkansas, a large number of residences and some businesses would have to be removed in order to obtain the necessary right of way,” he wrote. “By crossing the state line into Missouri, Route Alternative 109 avoids the necessity oftaking any homes or businesses.”

Route 33 is still SWEPCO’s preferred route, Main said.

From a proposed Kings River substation near Berryville heading west, Route 33 goes north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista. That route would cost about $96.3 million.

Route 109 goes north of Eureka Springs, then north along the Arkansas-Missouri line before turning south on the west side of Bella Vista. That route would cost $102.8 million.

Route 108 goes south into Madison and Washington counties before crossing Bethel Heights and along the western edge of Cave Springs. Constructing that route would cost about $117.4 million.

In addition, construction of a new Kings River substation would cost about $20 million, bringing the total cost of the project to at least $116.3 million.

Three other routes - 62, 86 and 91 - now have “least favored” status and should be removed from consideration, according to testimony Johnson filed with the commission July 19.

The commission has yet to issue an order concerning that testimony.

Routes 62, 86 and 91 go between Bentonville and Bella Vista and over part of Beaver Lake, which would require an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Those three routes also are closest to Eureka Springs and nearby tourist attractions.

Thousands of people, primarily from Carroll County, have registered comments with the commission opposing the power line.

John Bethel, executive director of the commission, said the commission could choose a route different from any of the proposed routes, or it could determine the line isn’t needed.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/26/2013

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