KCC approves power line through area
Published on -7/4/2010, 6:10 PM
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By MIKE CORN
TOPEKA -- With few changes, the Kansas Corporation Commission has approved the second phase of a massive electric transmission line that will run from Hays to the Nebraska border.
The approval came Wednesday, on the last day the KCC could deal with the issue.
The 345,000-volt line ultimately will run from Spearville to Hays and then north to the Nebraska border, eventually ending in Axtell, Neb.
ITC Great Plains will build the Kansas stretch of the line, with Sunflower Electric and Midwest Energy handling maintenance in their respective trade areas.
The second phase of the line, as approved by the KCC, will be built using single steel poles, ranging in height from 100 to 150 feet tall. On average, they will be placed about 900 feet apart.
The second phase of the line will be about 85 miles long, costing nearly $92 million to build. It generally will run northeast out of Hays, passing several miles east of Plainville and Stockton. It will go through Smith County about 3.5 miles east of Kensington.
The first phase of the project, approved a year ago, will use wooden structures to carry the lines.
In its 35-page order, the KCC went through each public request involving placement of the line. Some it accepted, while others were denied.
Also, the Nature Conservancy sought an alteration in the route to avoid native grassland that might be home to the lesser prairie chicken. TNC suggested the line run parallel to U.S. Highway 183 from Hays to Rooks County, then northeast to a point about 5 miles east of Plainville.
ITC countered that the new route would affect 133 additional landowners.
"The commission concludes that evidence in the administrative record indicates that ITC Great Plains has taken steps to minimize intrusion of the line upon the environment and in particular to be sensitive to the presence of whooping cranes and lesser prairie chickens," the KCC's order states. They denied the suggestion.
While the KCC didn't order it, ITC Great Plains voluntarily will give updates on construction of the line and any changes that might be made.
