| 05.19.04
Power line through Vt. forest?
Planners wrestle with tough question: where
to hide 58-foot, 115 kilovolt towers?
BY SCOTT MONROE, STOWE REPORTER
Stowe town planners and local electric officials
on Monday considered an entirely new route for a controversial,
high-voltage power line, proposing to run it through the Waterbury
State Forest instead of on an existing power-line corridor
parallel to Route 100 from Duxbury to Stowe.
The route through the state forest would require a 150-foot
right-of-way to accommodate the 58-foot-tall towers and the
115 kilovolt line, and a portion of the line would go through
the Town of Bolton.
Stowe planners said they want to consider every possible options
to make the proposed line less visible and removed from residential
areas.
“We want to look at that, Waterbury State Forest...look
at that seriously, and underground,” said Planning Commission
Chairman Paul Percy. “We got to know what the costs
are.”
The current Route 100-corridor proposal has come up against
fierce opposition from both homeowners who are concerned about
giving up additional land for right-of-way for the project
and others who say the bigger power line will be ugly. Stowe
planners, electric department officials and a handful of residents
attended the meeting Monday night and discussed a variety
of alternatives.
Under the state forest concept the power line would still
be visible in Stowe, near where Moscow Road intersects with
Route 100. But it would bypass Stowe residential areas such
as Black Bear Run where opposition to the proposed line is
strong.
Town officials agreed the state forest concept would be difficult
for Vermont’s Public Service Board to support, given
the potential encroachment on state land and wildlife. As
a result town officials discussed other possibilities, such
as burying the line or changing the pole designs.
“It seems to me we only have three options: go up, go
down, or go elsewhere,” said commission member Scott
Noble.
Ideas discussed will be sent to Vermont Electric Power Company
officials who have been contracted by local utilities to solve
Lamoille County’s growing power needs. VELCO, which
devised the original Route 100-corridor proposal, has agreed
to review ideas emanating from Stowe town agencies and residents,
develop cost estimates and alternative plans.
At the meeting was Bernard Machia, general manager of the
Stowe Electric department, which is among the regional utlities
seeking the greater electric capacity to meet growing demand.
Increased electricity needs and aging infrastructure have
led to concerns about the reliability of local electric service,
with potential for blackouts and brownouts, Machia and other
electric officials have said.
VELCO is proposing to build a 10.5-mile line from Duxbury
to Stowe. As proposed, with power lines above ground running
on the corridor parallel to Route 100, the line would cost
$13.4 million, of which $3 million would be paid by New England
utilities. Burying the line or rerouting it would likely cost
more.
Both Stowe and Waterbury residents in recent meetings have
grilled VELCO on many fronts, including the potential effect
of the bigger lines – and a much larger right of way
– on property values, aesthetics and health. The proposed
line crosses 59 individual properties in Stowe.
Town officials and residents requested more detailed plans
and information from VELCO, and the company is working on
them.
Members of the Stowe Planning Commission said they want VELCO
to discuss as many alternatives as possible to come up with
a plan that has the lowest environmental and residential impact.
Burying the high-voltage line in certain areas is one possibility,
although the price for those sections would increase by eight
to 10 times compared to building the line above the ground.
Another possibility would be to scrap the 58-foot-tall “H”
frame power line poles for 61- to 95-foot-tall single steel
poles that would carry lines and circuits for both the existing
34.5 kilovolt line and the proposed 115 kilovolt line.
Machia, who has been meeting regularly with local utilities
and VELCO officials, advised town planners to come to a consensus
as soon as possible, preferably before June 30. That would
give enough time for thorough state review and for construction
to be completed by November 2006, Machia said.
The November 2006 date is not arbitrary. By the winter of
2006-07 Machia estimates that Stowe Electric Department will
need the extra capacity to avoid brownouts and other problems.
In addition, Stowe electric stands to save about $350,000
a year in transmission fees on the existing 34.5 kilovolt
line unless a new line is built. The fees are currently not
fully charged, but they will be imposed beginning in November
2006, Machia said.
Although residents and planners welcomed the news of saving
on transmission fees, they had reservations about rushing
the project forward.
Stowe resident Steve Riley questioned whether a solution had
to be found by November 2006. “Are we really slammed
up against the wall?” Riley asked.
“You are,” Machia said. “Cost-wise as well
as demand.”
Cady Hill resident Charlie Adams asked if Machia and VELCO
are heeding concerns from all homeowners, even those whose
land is not in the right-of-way but are affected by the line,
including those near the Wilkens Substation.
“I’m looking at 59 landowners... the whole, complete
thing through Stowe,” Machia said.
Peter Beddow, a member of the Stowe Development Review Board
and resident of Black Bear Run, said the town of Shelburne
formed an advisory committee when it deliberated a power line
upgrade as part of VELCO’s Northwest Reliability Project.
Beddow said he would request at the next Stowe Select Board
meeting that a similar committee be formed to raise money
for experts and further research to consider burying the line.
“If any place is going to bury a line, I think Stowe
should,” Beddow said.
As VELCO develops its plans for permit approval, Stowe planners
are hoping to meet with Waterbury’s Planning Commission
on June 3, though a time and location has not yet been set.
The Vermont Public Service Board, which reviews Act 248 requests,
is the only agency that could reject the proposal or demand
changes that are in the “public good.” Local utility
companies, which will bond to pay for the project, are currently
meeting to devise a cost-sharing formula, in which Stowe is
expected to foot about 40 percent. VELCO will take over bond
payments after 10 years.
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