BPA's New High-Voltage Power Line To Carry Wind Power

Apr 16, 2011 - renewgridmag.com

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) says it plans to build a new power line across southeast Washington that will carry an additional 840 MW of wind energy and provide up to 170 jobs.

The new transmission line, called the Central Ferry-Lower Monumental line, will extend about 38 miles from a new Central Ferry Substation near the Port of Central Ferry in Garfield County west through Garfield, Columbia and Walla Walla counties to BPA's existing Lower Monumental Substation in Walla Walla County.

The line was chosen from four proposed routes between the new Central Ferry Substation site and the existing Lower Monumental Substation. BPA will now acquire new 150-foot-wide right of way for the entire length of the new line. The line will consist of 161 steel lattice transmission towers set about 1,200 feet apart and ranging in size from 104 feet to 189 feet.

The decision is the culmination of a public process launched in June 2009. During that process, BPA received hundreds of comments that helped it assess the impacts of the four proposed alternative routes. The process led to the development of an environmental impact statement, which outlined the steps that will help BPA minimize the line's impacts on land use, wildlife, vegetation, scenery and other resources.

SOURCE: Bonneville Power Administration