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Interagency News Release |
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California Public Utilities Commission |
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency |
U.S. Forest Service
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South Lake Tahoe, Calif. –The U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and California Public Utilities Commission have released the draft environmental analysis for the electrical line upgrade project proposed by the California Pacific Electric Company (CalPeco, dba Liberty Utilities) for northeastern Placer and southeastern Nevada counties. The proposed 625 and 650 Electrical Line Upgrade Project would consist primarily of an upgrade of CalPeco’s existing 625 and 650 electrical power lines and associated substations from 60 kilovolt to 120 kV, to allow the entire North Lake Tahoe Transmission System to operate at 120 kV.
The existing and proposed 625 Line alignments generally run in a northeast-southwest direction between the communities of Kings Beach and Tahoe City. The 650 Line runs from Truckee to Kings Beach, parallel to California State Route 267 for much of the alignment. The project is predominately located on lands managed by the Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Portions of the project are also located in the Town of Truckee, in the communities of Kings Beach and Tahoe City, on lands within the Martis Creek Lake Recreation Area and Burton Creek State Park, and on private lands.
The project would consist of three primary elements: removing the existing 625 Line and constructing a new, rerouted 625 Line; rebuilding the 650 Line with potential for realignments depending on the alternative considered; and upgrading, modifying or decommissioning of six substations. These improvements would increase the ability to maintain the current maximum system loads during an outage on any of the four key power lines within the North Lake Tahoe Transmission System, increasing the system’s reliability.
The environmental analysis evaluates five project alternatives. The agencies encourage the public to review the analysis and submit comments. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact report is available online at https://www.trpa.gov/get-involved/major-projects/
The public will have several opportunities to learn more about this project and the draft environmental documents. The Forest Service will host public meetings at which Ascent Environmental (the project’s consultant) will be available to discuss the proposal and answer questions. The 625/650 Electric Lines Upgrade Project Informational Meetings will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, from 2-4 p.m. at the Tahoe National Forest Truckee Ranger District Office at 10811 Stockcrest Springs Road, Truckee, Calif. and from 6-8 p.m. at the North Tahoe Events Center, 8318 No. Tahoe Blvd., Kings Beach, Calif. Additionally, the proposal will come before the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Advisory Planning Commission on December 4 and the TRPA Governing Board on December 18. Public comment will be taken at both meetings. Visit www.trpa.gov for meeting locations and times.
The agencies will accept public comment on the draft environmental analysis through January 7, 2014. TRPA is serving as the primary point of contact for questions and comments. Please contact Wendy Jepson, TRPA Senior Planner, P.O. Box 5310, Stateline, NV 89449, phone (775) 589-5269, fax (775) 588-4527, wjepson@trpa.gov.
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