HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRPA HARMONY-PORTNER-BOYD LAKE TRANSMISSION LINE - SPAR - 9-09 - CORRESPONDENCE - (3)Y
RE: PRPA transmission line
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I'll send an update as soon as I can about the resolution to this issue. If you like me to come to
your office and explain what all this means in person I would be happy to do so. If you have
any questions in the mean time please let me know.
Mike
From: Steve Olt [mailto:SOLT@fcgov.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 11:41 AM
To: Dahl, Mike
Subject: PRPA transmission line
Mike,
Your narrative references 2 new poles in the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way to make the transition from
overhead to underground. How tall are these poles (taller or lower than the existing) and will they be in the
approximate locations as the existing (1 or 2 existing)?
Thanks,
Steve
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RE: PRPA transmission line
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Steve Olt - RE: PRPA transmission line
From: "Dahl, Mike" <Dah1M@prpa.org>
To: "Steve Olt" <SOLTAafcgov.com>
Date: 3/9/2009 11:34 AM
Subject: RE: PRPA transmission line
Hi. Here is some information that does not answer your question but is the best I can do for
right now. I hope in the next few days to have a final answer and will pass it along. Here is the
short history on why an answer is not immediately available.
The new Portner Substation will be connected to the existing overhead line to the east near the
Union Pacific Railroad tracks. This line is called the Harmony -Boyd Line. The north end of the
line connects to the Harmony Substation which is a City of Fort Collins facility located next to
the UPRR tracks along Harmony Road. The Boyd Substation is a Platte River substation in
Loveland. The Harmony -Boyd transmission line is regionally important in the transfer of
electricity from Fort Collins toward Loveland and Longmont and for electric flows from
Wyoming toward Denver.
The Portner transmission line is being designed to create a looped path connecting the
overhead wires from Harmony Sub through the underground cable to the Portner Substation
and then back from Portner Sub through the second underground cable to the overhead
transmission line heading to Loveland. If one of the underground cables to Portner Sub were to
be damaged and in need of repair it would disconnect the Fort Collins and Loveland sides of
this extended transmission line. If an underground cable were damaged severely it could take
several weeks to repair. During this extended repair period we want to reconnect the Harmony -
Boyd transmission line to support electric deliveries to the south. To accomplish this temporary
bypass we need some space and some high voltage switches.
When your e-mail arrived last week we were waiting for a drawing of the transition poles that
would have answered your questions. The two new poles would have been the transition from
overhead cable to underground cable and would have supported the switches and space
necessary to handle the overhead line reconfiguration described above. It turns out that the
drawing we received shows a very complicated transmission tower structure that would not be
visually appealing. So our staff has been doing some brainstorming to come up with an
alternative.
We are investigating the installation of (1) two new towers that would look very much like the
existing towers and (2) a small switching station that we would surround with a 12-16' tall
concrete block wall. The wall would enclose the switching equipment needed to accomplish
the transmission restoration requirements described above. All of this would be located on the
Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way in the location of Platte River's existing transmission
easement just south of Trilby Road. What we do not know yet are the floodplain implications of
this location. The City's floodplain map shows the area we would like to use to be partially
underwater during a 100 year flood. I have a meeting Tuesday morning the 10t' with the City
Stormwater staff to look at possible solutions to the floodplain issue.
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