|
Editor’s Note: This is the third issue of the Wind Power Transmission Update from LCRA Transmission Services Corporation. Please note that this issue has two press releases for you to read so that you can stay informed about LCRA TSC’s transmission projects.
More than 200 people saw our first newsletter. We appreciate your interest and your help in getting out information on these projects so please continue to share these newsletters with friends.
Welcome to the new electronic newsletter called Wind Power Transmission Update from LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC).
Wind power is the subject of lots of talk in Texas, and recently quite a bit is being said about the $4.9 billion effort to build 2,400 miles of power lines to transmit wind-generated electricity from the Panhandle and West Texas into homes and businesses throughout the state.
A Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) is an area where wind generation facilities will be installed and from which transmission facilities will be built to other areas of the state to deliver renewable power. The CREZ project is the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas’ response to a mandate from the Texas Legislature to increase renewable energy in Texas to serve the state’s electric needs.
LCRA TSC is one of several transmission service providers that have been formally ordered by the PUC to construct these new transmission lines. As ordered by the PUC, LCRA TSC will build, own and operate about 600 miles of new and rebuilt existing transmission lines and facilities that will total about $700 million, according to PUC estimates.
These lines will cross many counties and impact many landowners and others.
We sent you this newsletter because you previously indicated an interest in new CREZ-related transmission line projects in your area.
To help you keep up with the latest news, LCRA TSC will periodically send you e-mail updates. Share it with friends, and stay informed. And remember that you can always go to LCRA’s Web site for more information about CREZ and LCRA TSC’s transmission line projects at www.lcra.org/crez.
Jan. 29, 2010
LCRA TSC to hold seven transmission project open houses
in February to gather public input
LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC) invites the public to attend open houses planned in February in Junction, Menard, Mason, Fredericksburg, Eldorado, Kerrville and Sonora concerning a new transmission line project expected to be built by 2013. The project may impact Schleicher, Sutton, Menard, Kimble, Mason, Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie counties.
LCRA TSC will host the "come-and-go" style open houses as an opportunity to inform citizens about the McCamey D-to-Kendall-to-Gillespie Transmission Project and to gather public input concerning line routing. The transmission lines will move wind power from northern Schleicher County to substations in Kendall and Gillespie counties.
The open houses will not include a formal presentation. Rather, attendees may visit the open houses anytime during the posted hours. They are encouraged to ask questions of staff, view aerial photography maps to locate their property, and peruse at their leisure a number of exhibits that explain the project, the line siting process, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) approval process and other related topics.
Each open house is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., except in Junction, where the time is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Also, in Junction and Fredericksburg, the public may attend open houses mid-day and/or evening.
The open houses will be held at these locations:
- Junction — Monday, Feb. 15; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Coke R. Stevenson Memorial Center, 440 N. U.S. Highway 83
- Menard — Tuesday, Feb. 16; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Menard Community Center, 301 W. Travis St.
- Mason — Wednesday, Feb. 17; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Mason Community Building, Fort Mason City Park, 1051 San Antonio St.
- Fredericksburg — Thursday, Feb. 18; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Pioneer Pavilion, 432 Lady Bird Drive
- Eldorado — Monday, Feb. 22; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Schleicher County Civic Center, 427 U.S. Highway 277
- Kerrville — Tuesday, Feb. 23; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Cailloux Campus Activity Center, 2100 Memorial Blvd., Schreiner University
- Sonora — Wednesday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sutton County Civic Center, 1700 N. Crockett Ave.
LCRA TSC hosted several open houses for this project in May 2009. Since that time, the original study area has been expanded, and several new route segments have been added. LCRA TSC is hosting the February open houses to inform and gather input from the potentially affected landowners located along the new route segments added since last May.
Almost 3,450 letters concerning the open houses were scheduled to be mailed on Jan. 29 to potentially affected landowners. LCRA TSC mailed similar letters earlier to elected officials and others. These newly noticed landowners are located along the new route segments that were added for study last fall at the joint request of LCRA TSC and the PUC.
Those are routes along and/or in the rights of way of U.S. Highway 277 and Interstate 10; routes running parallel to an existing 138-kilovolt (kV) line that traverses Menard, Mason and Gillespie counties; and routes running parallel to and in the same corridor as certain proposed segments for the Kendall-to-Gillespie project, north of the Kendall Station.
In May 2009, LCRA TSC sent more than 4,100 letters to landowners, elected officials and others in the original study area. More than 1,900 people registered at the open houses held at that time in San Angelo, Christoval, Junction, Harper, Comfort, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Llano, Burnet and Lampasas for this project and the related Gillespie-to-Newton Project.
The addition of the new routes does not eliminate any routes currently being considered by LCRA TSC, nor does it mean that any of the new routes will be selected by the PUC for construction. All potentially affected landowners originally notified in May 2009 are still considered "noticed," although they may not receive a new notice at this time. It is important that those potentially affected landowners who received notices last year remain engaged in the process.
The PUC has directed LCRA TSC to provide several geographically diverse routes to consider for selection. After consulting with PUC staff, reviewing a large amount of public input and considering numerous routing proposals, LCRA TSC and PUC staff requested and were granted a motion to delay the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity filing for this project in order to study the feasibility of the additional routes.
Route description
LCRA TSC proposes to construct two new, 345-kV transmission lines, primarily on double-circuit capable lattice structures.
The first transmission line will be a double-circuit line that will connect the designated McCamey D Station, to be located in northern Schleicher County, to the existing Kendall Station, located in western Kendall County. LCRA TSC will install both circuits on this transmission line. The first transmission line may be located in portions of Schleicher, Sutton, Menard, Kimble, Mason, Llano, Gillespie, Kerr and Kendall counties.
The second transmission line will connect the existing Kendall Station, located in western Kendall County, to the existing Gillespie Station, located in central Gillespie County. LCRA TSC initially will install one circuit on double-circuit capable lattice structures, which will accommodate a second circuit when necessary. The second transmission line may be located in portions of Kerr, Kendall and Gillespie counties.
Transmission capacity for wind power to increase
LCRA TSC's new transmission lines are part of a greater estimated $4.9 billion project intended to allow for reliable and cost-effective delivery of power produced from wind generators located in areas of West Texas and the Panhandle, called Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ), to areas of high energy demand throughout the state. The CREZ effort will significantly increase Texas's current electric transmission capacity for wind power.
As ordered by the PUC, LCRA TSC will build, own and operate about 600 miles of new and rebuilt existing transmission lines and facilities that will total about $700 million, according to PUC estimates. Several other transmission service providers also will build CREZ-related lines totaling about 2,400 miles.
By July 6, 2010, LCRA TSC must submit to the PUC an application to amend its Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, which is required before construction can begin. The application package will include information about a preferred route and alternative routes for the new lines. The final route for each of LCRA TSC's CREZ-related projects must be selected and approved by the PUC before LCRA TSC can begin construction. The PUC will select the route to build and will designate the structures used in the route's construction. Estimates are that the route from McCamey D to Kendall could be approximately between 128 miles and 165 miles long, depending on the route approved by the PUC. The estimated length of the routes from Kendall to Gillespie is about 28 to 33 miles.
After LCRA TSC files a preferred route and several alternative routes with the PUC, the public will have a chance to intervene with the PUC in its decision-making process.
For more information about these and other CREZ-related projects, look online at www.lcra.org/crez. Select the individual project for line-specific information. You can also contact Sara Morgenroth, regulatory case manager, at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 4151.
Jan. 26, 2010
Laydown yards provide storage areas for transmission line construction materials
On a crisp winter morning, a truck driver delivers a load of steel to an 80-acre field. It’s one of many trucks that will deliver a total of about 6,000 tons of steel to a handful of transmission material storage sites leased by LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC).
These shipments of steel and other transmission materials on four to 10 trucks per day have attracted their share of attention from the communities near the storage sites. They also raised questions from residents about the materials, which started arriving in the early summer of 2009.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) has assigned the construction of 2,300 miles of transmission line projects to a handful of transmission service providers. Some of the projects, known as Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) projects, are under construction while others await PUC selection of the route to build. Regardless of their status, all the projects have something in common – the need for similar construction materials.
In June 2009, LCRA TSC began ordering a portion of the steel that could be used for lattice towers – about 30 percent of the steel that LCRA TSC would use for all of its 400 miles of new 345-kilovolt-line projects if all those projects were built with lattice towers. Additionally, LCRA TSC ordered wire and project hardware. LCRA TSC can use these materials for any of its transmission line projects, and is storing the materials primarily in five large laydown yards near different cities in the areas where LCRA TSC will construct or rebuild transmission lines.
The yards are located near San Angelo, Junction, Llano, Coleman and Lampasas. With the exception of San Angelo, they are open-air, fenced storage yards on 25 to 80 acres of leased land. The San Angelo yard has a 52,000-square-foot warehouse adjacent to the storage yard that was located on the site. The majority of the materials in this yard are intended for projects that will add or upgrade existing facilities in the San Angelo area. LCRA TSC also uses LCRA’s Dalchau Service Center in Austin to store materials, and existing LCRA or LCRA TSC facilities in the vicinity of projects may be used to store materials prior to starting construction.
Some participants in the public discussion of CREZ have questioned why LCRA TSC pre-ordered material. Some also have asked whether the pre-purchase of materials will mean that the final tower design will be one selected to ensure the use of the pre-ordered materials. That is not the case, according to Stuart Nelson, LCRA Transmission Asset Development manager.
“We ordered some of the steel for lattice towers because of the potential risk that all the state’s CREZ transmission service providers would order the same materials to build 2,300 miles of lines simultaneously and create a bottleneck in the supply chain,” Nelson said. “And about two-thirds of the existing materials in CREZ laydown yards are for projects currently under construction – those projects already approved by the Public Utility Commission or those related to additions or upgrades to existing facilities.”
At this time, LCRA TSC still recommends using lattice towers in most of its projects because they cost less, Nelson said. “But of course we will build whatever the PUC tells us to build,” he added. The PUC selects transmission line routes and the structure types to be used to construct the routes.
LCRA TSC is one of several transmission service providers that have been formally ordered by the PUC to construct new transmission lines required to connect Competitive Renewable Energy Zones to areas throughout the state. A CREZ is an area where wind generation facilities will be installed throughout West Texas and the Panhandle and from which transmission facilities will be built to various other areas of the state to deliver mostly renewable power to end-use consumers in the most beneficial and cost-effective manner.
“We don’t plan to order more than 30 percent of the steel until the PUC selects our route and structure types for the Gillespie-to-Newton Transmission Line Project,” Nelson said. The steel that has been ordered will continue to arrive over the next few months. “If the PUC tells us to build something other than lattice towers, then we will use what we already bought on other projects or sell the materials,” Nelson said.
While the most visible material has been steel structures, LCRA TSC also will order and store electric wire (also referred to as conductor) – an estimated 26 million feet of conductor based on current project estimates. That translates into 2,500 reels of conductor, or 100 reels per month for 25 months delivered at a rate of 40 truck loads per month. Each reel of wire is six to eight feet tall.
Crates of bolts also will be stored. LCRA TSC estimates it will need about 40 tractor-trailer rigs of bolts and connectors.
In addition to the delivery of materials, other transmission work has become a common sight in West Texas and the Hill Country.
Nelson said the simultaneous work on so many different projects sometimes creates public confusion in the areas where work is taking place. “Someone may see work on a transmission project and believe it’s associated with a project, when it’s actually for different one entirely. Currently, most of the activity people see is connected to projects already approved by the Public Utility Commission or related to additions or upgrades to existing facilities,” Nelson said. “Anyone interested in the status of LCRA TSC projects can find that information and a lot more just by looking online.” The Web site is
www.lcra.org/crez. |
