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PNM Agrees to Study New Alternatives for Loma Larga Power Line |
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Written by Jeff Radford
Corrales Comment
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 |
Alternatives have been proposed that may eliminate the need for new
power lines along stretches of Loma Larga to which westside homeowners
have objected.
Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) planner Charlotte
Otero-Goodwin has presented to Village officials a new approach to
create a heavy-duty three-phase power line west of the Corrales Main
Canal delivering more power along the route now used, Stella Lane.
Reporting on his meeting with PNM officials February 19, Mayor Phil
Gasteyer said the “Three Phase Stella Lane Tap Option” would “reduce
the need for a three-phase line along Loma Larga from 2,400 feet to 290
feet.
“Naturally we liked this alternative,” the mayor noted in a memo February 10.
Estimates of the costs involved, and any extra the Village or
individual ratepayers would have to fork over if the power lines are
laid underground, are exected to be ready for discussion at the March
23 Village Council meeting.
At the council’s request, PNM’s Carol Radosevich explained February 9
the power company’s plans for the short-, medium- and long-range. The
objective, she said, is to assure Corrales an adequate, reliable supply
of electricity.
Her basic question to the mayor and council was: do you want PNM to install those power lines overhead or underground?
If Corrales’ answer is to go ahead with PNM’s preference to string the
new power lines overhead, it would be done at PNM’s expense.
But if the lines are to be buried underground, Corrales —either through
Village government or spread among all villagers’ electricity bills for
several years— would have to pay the extra cost.
PNM estimates it would cost an extra $130,800 to install the line underground from Rayo del Sol to Camino de la Tierra.
If the council gives the go-ahead for PNM to install the line overhead for that stretch, the work would be done in April.
But after several homeowners opposed the Rayo del Sol to Camino de la
Tierra overhead power line because it would spoil their view of
the mountains and Village Council members were less than enthusiastic,
PNM’s planners began considering other options.
The longer range plan for the power line that would originate at a new
transformer substation below Intel and run along Loma Larga up to
Camino de la Tierra would begin in 2013 at an estimated cost of $3
million, Radosevich explained. And much more if it goes in underground.
She said the proposed power line would be run along poles about the
same height as those now carrying electricity on Corrales Road,
sticking up above ground about 34 feet.
But at the February 19 meeting with PNM, Village officials suggested
they consider running the new line along the Thompson Fence Line
(boundary between Corrales and Rio Rancho) rather than along Loma Larga.
“We pointed out that overhead lines exist already along most of the
boundary. They said that PNM planners would be starting in mid-June on
a 10-year plan that includes the long-term plan for Corrales,” the
mayor reported in his memo.
“They were initially skeptical that there might be a better route
[along the Thompson Fence Line] because of the topography, but we drove
to the end of Camino de la Tierra and Sagebrush” where PNM’s structural
engineer “seemed to conclude that the elevation changes along the
Thompson Fence Line were minor compared to what they do all the time in
the East Mountains.
“They will start to explore the easement situation in properties along the border,” Gasteyer wrote.
The mayor said he was “very encouraged by their willingness to pursue these things.”
At the February 9 council meeting, Village officials questioned
Radosevich carefully and sometimes sharply about the need for the new
lines and whether they were really the best solution to Corraleños’
demands for more reliable electricity service.
Radosevich said right now, virtually all of Corrales is served from the
power line that runs along Corrales Road. PNM’s new plan would change
that so that essentially the homes west of the Main Canal would be
served from the new power line originated at a new substation referred
to as “Corrales Bluff,” east of Intel.
Among those speaking out against PNM’s plans for an overhead power line
from Rayo del Sol to la Tierra were Sueann Derr and Richard Green.
Green said he lives at the corner of Loma Larga and Villa de Paz where
the proposed power line would “directly block my view of the Sandias.”
Dick Foote predicted that the longer power line from Coronado to la
Tierra would ignite “a fire storm” of opposition among west side
residents.
Councillor Jim Fahey indicated he thought the Village residents would
probably be willing to pay an extra $3 to $10 a month on their PNM bill
for a few years to cover the cost of burying the power line near the
north end of Loma Larga.
But costs would be much greater for the longer run underground from Coronado, Foote warned.
When PNM came before the council a few years ago about an earlier power
line project at the north end, the Village Council signed an agreement
with PNM for the Village to cover the extra cost of taking it
underground.
But the Village’s finances are precarious now, councillors pointed out. |
