Proposed power line shocks landowners

By 2014, a power line could tarnish foothill views along Highway 108-120 from Oakdale to the New Melones power plant.

Under the current proposal, which is years and studies away from fruition, a 500-kilovolt line would sag from towers skirting Knights Ferry and foothill ranches, cut south towards Keystone, cut back north and cross Highway 108, stream over O’Byrnes Ferry Road near Sierra Conservation Center and loop across rolling hills to New Melones Dam.

The line is part of an enormous project called the Northern California Transmission Project. The project is headed by the Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC), a state power agency made up of 15 members — including the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts — and Western Area Power Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The grand scheme is to construct 600 miles of high-voltage lines that would span across the Central Valley and Bay Area, into the Sierra Nevada foothills, head north through Sacramento and eventually to conceptual wind, solar and geothermal power plants in Lassen County.

Pendng approval, project construction is scheduled to begin in 2012.

Tapping into the state’s renewable energy potential and providing a more reliable power grid will benefit the growing populations of Northern California, said Patrick Mealoy, head of TANC operations.

Tapping into Lassen County’s renewable energy potential would help the state meet goals proposed in a state bill that looks to mandate the state buy one-third of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2020, Mealoy said.

The bill recently passed the state Senate and is being reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

But despite the project’s benefits to Northern California’s urban areas, some foothill residents say they’re only gaining an eyesore.

“It could affect the quality of life, value of property and, potentially, our health,” said Dave Dotur, who has a home in Oakdale within 1,000 feet of proposed line and another home about a half-mile from where the line would be near Keystone.

"We enjoy those views,” Dotur said.

The New Melones line would connect Western Area Power Administration’s electrical grid to New Melones and send the power to Sacramento and outlying areas, said Randy Wilkerson, spokesman for the federal power agency.

The New Melones power plant produces enough energy to supply about 72,000 households. The power is already transmitted through Pacific Gas & Electric Co. lines that take a slightly different route into the Central Valley.

“It’s not a power grab, or anything,” Wilkerson said, adding that electricity produced from New Melones is controlled by the federal government.

“New Melones is geographically isolated from the rest of Western’s transmission system ... this proposed line would physically link New Melones to Western’s system,” he said.

Some wonder why the proposed power line couldn’t follow PG&E’s existing lines.

“It won’t be good for the visual quality of Tuolumne County,” said John Gray, Tuolumne County supervisor. “We already have a large line coming from there — why couldn’t they follow the existing route?” 

Gray said the county plans to take a formal position on the power line proposal.

TANC and Western Area Power Administration say they are willing to discuss route alternatives.

After the initial comment period closes this month, a draft Environmental Impact Report with project alternatives will be produced by this time next year, and comments will be taken on the report. A final report would follow.

However, recent public meetings concerning the project never came to the foothills. The closest they came was Modesto.

Mealoy said TANC would make a presentation to the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors if people are interested.

Some think area residents would be very interested if they knew about the project.

“People don’t even know about this up here,” Dotur said.