News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Tollgate residents got a first look last Wednesday at the design for a new power substation that will take power from 69kv to 115kv under a Bonneville Power Administration mandate.
Most of them didn't like what they saw.
Central Electric Cooperative (CEC) is planning the installation of a substation that will cover a footprint of 155-by-240-feet near the west fire exit of the subdivision. The steel structure will stand 30 feet tall. Several residences look directly out onto the site of the new facility, which will be built on land owned by CEC.
Plans have yet to be submitted to Deschutes County. The project is slated to begin as soon as possible to start transmission at 115kv in September of 2009.
CEC representatives explained the need for upgraded infrastructure in an informational meeting at the Tollgate Recreation Hall. Engineer Don Lange said that load had increased from an average of 44.7 megawatt peak in 1993-94 to 74.4mw in 2007-08, pushing the top end of the system's capacity.
"This is a real indication of what all of Central Oregon has experienced and this is why BPA has said 'Hey, we've got to upgrade our facilities,'" Lange said. "We were in an overload mode this winter."
Most of the audience at Wednesday's informational meeting did not argue with the need. Some did question why a substation that serves Tollgate and Crossroads has to be so big. But most of the concern was expressed about the visual impact of the substation looming just feet from some residents' backyard and the impact of a summer of construction work on the site.
Some wondered why the substation couldn't be sited further into the woods west of Tollgate where it wouldn't be seen.
CEC spokesman Allan Guggenheim explained that the Forest Service would not make land available if CEC already owned land - and the cooperative has owned the land near Tollgate for 25 years.
Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony confirmed to The Nugget that the Forest Service can only offer up public lands for such facilities if there is no other choice.
"We're sort of locked in by history for Tollgate and Crossroads," Guggenheim said.
Residents complained that contractors who installed tall steel power poles for new high-capacity power lines last summer cut down virtually all the trees on the property, left debris behind and created huge amounts of dust and noise for residents. They are concerned that such impacts will happen again with the construction of the substation.
CEC officials said they did not know that so many trees had been cut down. They assured residents that building a substation is a different type of construction that should not have as much impact.
Residents asked many questions about screening and mitigation of visual impacts. CEC officials solicited residents opinions and desires but offered no concrete plan. One major hurdle in creating a landscape buffer is that no trees can be planted where they might come close to the power lines that run directly through the site.
One resident proposed that CEC mitigate costs for residents to landscape their own property to provide a screen.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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