NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 22, 2006
CONTACT: Randy Wilkerson, 720-962-7056, wilkerson@wapa.gov
PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE MEETINGS SET FOR EASTERN PLAINS TRANSMISSION PROJECT
LAKEWOOD, Colo.— Public scoping meetings on proposed high-voltage transmission lines and substations in eastern Colorado and western Kansas are set for 10 communities near the project between Aug. 28 and Sept. 14.
The open house meetings are part of Western Area Power Administration’s efforts to share information and receive public comments on the scope of issues it will evaluate in the Eastern Plains Transmission Project Environmental Impact Statement.
The open-house meetings to share information and answer questions will be held from 3 to 8 p.m.:
All meeting locations are wheelchair accessible. Please contact Western if you need other accommodations to attend the scoping meetings.
Western proposes to participate in the Eastern Plains project with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., in exchange for capacity rights on the transmission lines. These rights would provide Western with approximately 275 megawatts of system capacity on the proposed transmission system. Western needs this additional transmission system capacity to provide more economical, reliable, diverse and flexible power delivery to customers.
The EIS will address construction, operation and maintenance of about 1,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and related facilities, expansions at existing substations and construction of new substations, access roads and fiber optic communication facilities. The EIS will also address floodplain and wetland impacts.
The analysis area includes Adams, Arapahoe, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert, El Paso, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Morgan, Otero, Pueblo, Prowers, Washington and Yuma counties in Colorado and Finney, Greeley, Hamilton, Kearny, Logan, Scott, Sherman, Thomas, Wallace and Wichita counties in Kansas.
Comments on the proposed project can be submitted at one of the meetings or to Jim Hartman, Environmental Manager, Western Area Power Administration, Rocky Mountain Region, P.O. Box 3700, Loveland, CO 80539; fax 970-461-7213; or e-mail eptp@wapa.gov. Comments are due by Sept. 30.
Western invites the public to suggest specific issues and concerns that should be evaluated in the EIS. Western will use the scoping process to help identify alternatives to the proposed action. Western will also analyze the impacts of not participating in the proposed project.
For more information about the proposed project, please visit the project Web site online at: http://www.wapa.gov/transmission/eptp.htm.
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Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy.
Serving the West with Federal hydropower
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