|
Your Support is Needed for Xcel Power Line Battle
CPN residents are asked to attend the Douglas County Planning Commission meeting on Monday, November 17, to oppose Xcel Energy’s application to replace an existing power line with taller metal poles that would carry higher voltage – 345kV, the most powerful transmission lines used in the state of Colorado.
Instead of planning additional power transmission corridors which would make their service more reliable, Xcel believes that adding more power to this corridor is the ?path of least resistance? for this project -- and for future voltage increases. Xcel has not been willing to bury the line when it passes through our residential area, as they have done in some urban areas. Xcel is asking for protection from being sued over violation of state statutes for the ?noise nuisance? associated with the high-voltage line.
The November 17 meeting will be held at 7 p.m., at the County Commissioner’s Hearing Room, 100 Third Street in Castle Rock. A good turnout will help us prove our point and may help us win the battle.
* email powerlines@cpnhoa.org
* contact Carol Padilla at (303) 660-5253, Keri Brehm at (303) 688-6701, or Freda Poundstone at (303) 792-5067.
Meanwhile, the community is continuing to pursue the battle on the second front, challenging Xcel’s application before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The PUC hearings concluded on October 30, and final legal arguments are being filed. The PUC judge’s decision is expected by late November.
Contributions are still needed to fund the legal battle. Each household adjacent to the power lines is asked to contribute $150, and remaining residents $30 – but any contribution is greatly appreciate, so contribute what you can. Please send your contributions to:
CPN Master Association
7402 Yorkshire Drive
Castle Rock CO 80108
Please indicate on the memo: Powerlines Defense Fund
Xcel’s own projections for the higher voltage lines show that the buzzing that emits from wet power lines would violate state ?noise nuisance? statutes, yet they have offered no mitigation to adjacent property owners – in fact, they have asked for protection from being sued even when they violate the statue.
They wish to pack the high-voltage line in a corridor designed for lesser voltage, yet they are not willing to bury the line when it passes through our residential area, as they have done in many urban areas.
Public opposition led Xcel to abandoned plans to make their power system more reliable by building an entirely new corridor in eastern Colorado. Instead have chosen what they feel is the easiest path to approval – to add capacity to an existing corridor.
This is currently Xcel’s ONLY conduit to bring power into Metro Denver from the south. If Xcel views this corridor as the easiest path to expansion, will they build the additional corridors needed for a reliable system, or will they continue to come back to this corridor to meet their future expansion needs?
Even though CPN residents are battling with Xcel Energy’s plan to replace an existing power line with taller metal poles that would carry higher voltage, Xcel has the right to continue the engineering work for the project, so that they will be ready to build if they do receive the permits they are seeking from the PUC and Douglas County.
Xcel’s engineers have now completed a land survey and preliminary design of the transmission line.
During the week of November 10, they will begin physically staking potential transmission pole locations in the field.
After property owners have had a chance to review the stake locations, Xcel has agreed to meet with adjacent property owners to discuss the pole placement. Xcel has indicated that there is some limited flexibility in the exact placement of poles. Xcel’s engineers will consider requests for adjustments to pole locations; however Xcel will not relocate any poles over the objections of other property owners.
The pole placement meeting will be held on December 3, 2003, at 6:00 p.m. at the CPN Community Center, 7404 Yorkshire.
|
