December 18 Webinar on Transmission reveals the Challenge Ahead

The nation needs lots of new transmission lines but installing them is not going to be easy, quick or inexpensive. Four experts provided insights on the challenges ahead.

The individual power points are posted on our Free News site at:  http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/Default.htm

Then click on the sequence indicated under each presentation summary below.

Doug Smith, a member of Van Ness Feldman, provided an update on the ongoing Federal policy debate concerning transmission infrastructure development. Transmission planning, siting and cost allocations are being debated in Congress, and these issues are also under consideration at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Federal land agencies. Much of the debate focuses on how best to support transmission investments needed to foster ambitious renewable energy development.

Cyril Welter, Senior Project Manager Burns & McDonnell, asserted that the rebuild option has benefits but also concerns. Cyril summarized both nicely.

Benefits:

·         No/limited new right-of-way required.

·         May not need new easements.

·         Often more direct.

·         Permitting effort may be less.

·         Less social and environmental impact.

Concerns:

·         Vulnerability during construction.

·         Timing outages.

·         Reliability – loss of a structure.

·         Re-negotiating easements.

·         Widening right-of-way, if necessary.

·         Visual impact (taller poles).

Kelly Gleaton of Golder Associates, Inc. addressed the considerations in siting transmission lines. They include the following:

·         Location – NIMBY’ism

·         Corridor vs. Route

·         Aesthetics

·         Electric and magnetic fields

·         Safety/Security

·         Land use and ownership

·         Property value

·         Environmental effects on natural resources

·         Construction and maintenance

·         Public ROW vs. easement

·         Public involvement

Neil Palmer, Neil Palmer & Associates, told the participants that success in siting, permitting and constructing new electric transmission facilities has less to do with financial resources, engineering expertise or even environmental studies then most people realize and more to do with a carefully crafted public affairs plan being well managed.

Throughout the presentations a variety of negative consequences or perceived consequences of new transmission lines were discussed. They include bird kills, vista impairment, disturbance of pristine wilderness, health effects, power supply disruptions, etc. Bob McIlvaine suggested that the Sustainability Universal Rating System (SURS) would be a valuable tool in the decision making process. It provides one common metric for each of the negative consequences, so various options such as rebuild, vs. new lines can be numerically compared. It aggregates all the narrow as well as broad impacts, so the vista impairment for people nearby can be aggregated with the wilderness damage which might affect millions of people. This system is discussed at

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/SURS/subscriber/Default.htm