Part of power plant's transmission line could go underground

By: JOSE CARVAJAL - Staff Writer | Thursday, October 5, 2006 11:35 PM PDT ∞

LAKE ELSINORE ---- The latest plan for a high-voltage transmission line that would serve a proposed hydroelectric power plant in the hills southwest of the lake calls for a segment of the line to be buried underground, federal administrators said Thursday.

That would eliminate the risks posed by the transmission line to hang gliders, who say the area is a world-renowned hotbed for the sport.

"We are claiming this as a victory for hang gliding," Elsinore Hang Gliding Association representative Ken Niemi said Thursday. "It seems that (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) has recognized this. It seems they're doing something now. We're claiming this as a victory for us and the sport."

The energy commission is considering whether to grant a license for the massive project to the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and its private partner on the project, The Nevada Hydro Company, of Vista.

Commission administrator Jim Fargo said from Washington, D.C., on Thursday that a revised plan for the 30-mile transmission line would bury a three-mile stretch along South Main Divide Road partway down a mountainside facing away from the lake.

Also to be put underground would be a stretch of power line connecting the main line to a powerhouse that would be built at the base of the mountain on the lake's side. That stretch would be more than a mile long.

The commission is no longer considering a previous plan to have the transmission line run above ground halfway down the mountain, Fargo, the federal administrator, said. The new route should answer the concerns of hang gliders who have said the line would prohibit them from gliding safely in certain areas, he added.

"It takes the project totally out of their way," he said.

While one local hang-gliding group hailed the latest development, another was more measured in its response.

Frank Hoffman of Elsinore Testing of Experimental Aircraft Mechanisms Inc. agreed that it's good that part of the line would be buried, but he said there are still plenty of concerns linked to the project.

Of particular concern, he said, is that the proposed powerhouse would be built in a location off Grand Avenue that is a prime launching site for hang gliders. He has been told the commission probably wouldn't allow a powerhouse on that site, but there have been no guarantees, Hoffman said.

"I'm happy to the extent that this issue may be settled," Hoffman said. "But I think there's more to do in the process. Certainly, the whole issue of the (powerhouse) is one that still remains."

Proponents of the project said they were pleased with the new proposed route of the transmission line.

Water board President Phil Williams said Thursday the new route ensures the line would not be built within a mile of the Horsethief Canyon community north of the city. The district has secured a guarantee from Nevada Hydro that if it were to go within a mile of the community, he said, that section would also go underground.

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District board member Kris Anderson said that it is important to bury the part connecting the main line to the powerhouse.

Among the sites proposed for the powerhouse is a plot of land near Butterfield Elementary School and Anderson said that this should help quell concerns that the line would be harmful to children.

"That helps with that," she said.

Anderson also said she wasn't sure how the underground section of transmission line would affect the price tag for the project. A representative for Nevada Hydro could not provide that information Thursday.

Federal administrators have indicated in the past, however, that building the line underground would be extremely expensive. Fargo said it would cost about 10 times more to build the transmission line underground in the proposed segments than it would to do it above ground.

Williams said he thought the price tag would stay about $1.2 billion. Recent estimates had put the price tag for the project as low as $1 billion and as high as $1.3 billion.

Nevada Hydro, which is responsible for financing and building the project, has been able to cut costs in some areas, Williams said. Additionally, he said, prices for construction materials have dipped and that should keep the price in that range.

Germany-based Siemens has already signed on to build the transmission line and Williams said it would be employing new technology for burying high-voltage transmission lines. The company uses the technology in Europe, he said.

"For them, it's kind of like, 'We want to prove ourselves to the U.S.,'" he said. "If it works here in the U.S., it could open that market to them in the rest of country."

Thursday's news was the latest development in what has been a decade-long saga.

First proposed more than a decade ago, the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage project calls for water pumped from the lake at night to be stored in a 100-acre reservoir behind a 180-foot dam in the hills southwest of Lake Elsinore.

The water would flow down the mountain toward the lake on summer days, when demand is at its peak, to energize electricity-producing turbines in a powerhouse built 300 feet underground. Water would be pumped back up the hill at night, when less electricity is needed and power costs less.

Linking the plant to the state power grid would be the 30-mile power line that would run partly through the Cleveland National Forest.

Community opinions on the project are split.

The proponents say it would have positive economic benefits by ensuring the lake is always full and providing up to 500 megawatts of much-needed electricity to the region. Opponents say the project would harm the environment, including the lake.

Opponent Chris Hyland, a water board member, said Thursday that this latest announcement is another attempt by the project's backers to make the project seem less of a danger to the community and environment.

Hyland, the only opponent on the water board, is facing re-election in November. She is one of three candidates opposed to the project running for the three seats that will open up at the end of the year.

Anderson and board member Ben Wicke are also seeking re-election.

Hyland sought to cast Thursday's announcement as an election-season ploy to garner support for the pro-project candidates. It's going to be impossible for the district and Nevada Hydro to get the financial backing for the underground transmission line, she said.

"This is election time and so Nevada Hydro has gone to them with this pie-in-the-sky story," she said.

Williams, who is not running for re-election, contended that neither the district nor Nevada Hydro had anything to do with federal officials deciding to pursue the underground line. He criticized Hyland for failing to acknowledge positive aspects to the project.

"She's got blinders on," Williams said. "She hates the project. She will die by that position."

Doug Pinnow, another anti-project candidate, said the underground section of the line only represents a small aspect of the overall project.

"There's so many other risks and problems with the community," he said. "This takes care of one little piece."

Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.

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