A hearing on a proposed 50-to-60-mile high-voltage transmission line in Benton and Carroll counties officially closed Monday, and a decision must be made within the next 60 calendar days, said John Bethel, chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission.
The hearing had been in recess since Aug. 30.
Connie Griffin, an administrative law judge with the commission, issued the order Monday saying she had sufficient information from a week-long evidentiary hearing in August and subsequent briefs supporting and opposing the Southwestern Electric Power Co. transmission line.
Under Arkansas Code Annotated 23-18-519(e), she has60 days to make a decision.
Three routes are still under consideration. Six were proposed initially, but three were eliminated because they went over an “undisturbed” part of Beaver Lake, and it could have been difficult to get an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Corps officials said previously.
Griffin could determine the best route for the line or decide the project isn’t necessary, said Bethel. The three-member commission can overrule Griffin, and opponents can appeal the commission’s decision to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
SWEPCO applied on April 3 to build the transmission line, which would be 49 to 59 miles long depending on the route chosen.
To support the transmission line, six towers would be needed every mile. They would average 130-160 feet tall, according to SWEPCO’s proposal. The towers would require foundation holes 40-50 feet deep and up to 10 feet wide. A 150-foot-wide right of way also would be required.
SWEPCO is required to build transmission projects within its service area if the Southwest Power Pool determines they are necessary, said David Matthews, the company’s attorney, during the Aug. 26 hearing in Little Rock. He said the line is needed to provide reliable electric service in the future to northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.
The pool is a regional transmission organization under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is responsible for planning electrical transmission needs for 6 million households in nine states.
The power-line proposal has generated thousands of comments from people opposed to the project at hearings in Eureka Springsand Rogers, and filed electronically.
Three routes under consideration are numbered 33, 108 and 109.
From the proposed Kings River substation near Berryville heading west, Route 33 is a 49-mile route that would travel north of Eureka Springs, through Gateway and Garfield, then southwest between Bentonville and Bella Vista. That route would cost about $96.3 million.
Route 108 is a 59-mile track that would go 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.
Route 109 is a 56-mile path that would go 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.
SWEP CO had said it wants the approval process and design engineering done by December. After right-ofway acquisition, construction is to begin by March 2015, and the company wants the new line to be in service by June 2016.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/21/2013