Transmission Lines - College of Engineering
Transcription
Transmission Lines - College of Engineering
Transmission Lines The Landowner’s Perspective by Roger Findley Who Am I • Third Generation Farmer – My brothers and I farm about 400 acres and run 300 head of beef cows on the original homestead taken out of sagebrush by hand by my father and grandfather in 1937 I am also into Renewable Energy, installing a 14 kW system in June 2010 Anybody want to buy “green tags” • Currently I am Assoc Dean of Instruction at Treasure Valley Community College – Developing a Renewable Energy Program • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering OSU • M.S. in Agriculture OSU • Most recently, Chairman of citizens committee IN Malheur County called “STOP IDAHO POWER” (SIP) Why Stop Idaho Power? • SIP wanted Idaho Power to change the original route of B2H through Malheur County • Our battle cry “Not on Exclusive Farm Use Land in Malheur County” How did it all start? Scoping Meeting • Fall (Oct) 2008 we got a mailing about a scoping meeting on a big power line running through our property • My wife and I went to the meeting, learned about the B2H 500 kV transmission line Researched 500kV line Had a Town Hall meeting for neighbors to attend….over 300 people showed up I presented the following slides which will tell you why landowners in Malheur were upset over the original route Land Ownership under Line • Proposed power line is 299 miles long – 88% crosses PRIVATE LAND – 11% crosses BLM – 1% crosses OTHER – 54 miles of this line is in Malheur County • ALL on PRIVATE LAND • 38 miles is zoned EXCLUSIVE FARM USE Malheur County is over 80% federally owned Reasons Not to Have a 500kV Line on Farm Land Accidents Stray Voltage • There have been several incidents of stray voltage affecting cattle • Twins Falls Dairy sued IPCo for 17Million for stray voltage and won (2008) Height of Equipment • BPA’s website recommends NOT operating equipment under power lines higher than 14 feet for fear of ARCING • Most modern farm equipment is higher than 14 feet (would you like to be the tallest person on a potato digger as it passes under a 500 kV line?) Sagging power lines 38 feet above the ground EMF Danger • 500 kV power lines produce ElectroMagnetic Fields under them….7kV per meter • It can energize metal objects such as fences, pipelines, siphons, farm equipment • People can get shocks from touching these objects EMF Dangers • Health Concerns – Causes higher incidence of childhood cancer – Causes higher risk of Alzheimer's disease – Melatonin levels change in humans • Fluorescence lights bulbs will light up by holding them in your hands under these lines Would you really want your grandkids under a 500 kV line? Noise • These power lines HUM constantly 24/7/365 • Interfere with cell phones, GPS units, radios, TVs Irrigation • • • • How will you irrigate around the towers? Center pivots can’t go all around the field Wheel lines can’t go past them Furrows will be all messed up Ground Clearance • When electrical current is flowing on a hot summer day, these lines will SAG • IPCo says lines may only be 38 feet above ground • Section of handline is 40 feet long Aerial spraying • Airplanes won’t be able to fly over or under them applying chemicals – Areas untreated which become “hot spots” for pests to concentrate and spread – Aerial GPS units get scrambled around the EMF and won’t give accurate readings Dust and Smoke • Dust and smoke particles in the air makes the air lose its insulation quality resulting in ARCING • Firemen have to stay 200 feet away from 500kV lines when fighting fires Property Values • Property values drop an average of 15 to 20% under a big transmission line Viewshed • Ruins a viewshed 500 kV line superimposed on Malheur Butte 40 ft by 40 ft base 190 ft tall OSHA • OSHA has rules that farm workers have to stay 100 feet away from 500 kV lines when working Factors to Consider for a Transmission Line • 1) What size line is needed? – 69kV 138kV 230kV 500kV Idaho Power doesn’t own a 500 kV line yet All the power for the Treasure Valley is basically brought in on two 230 lines • 2) Zoning laws – States vary on this – The reason farm land in Idaho sells for $15k/acre while in Oregon only $5K/acre – Oregon has very strict zoning laws which helped us move the B2H line • You can’t put a transmission line over Exclusive Farm Use land in Oregon unless there is nowhere else to go • 3) Be open and communicate – With social networks on the computer, you can’t hide anything – Stop Idaho Power developed a blogspot • We found IPCo was hitting the site several times a day – With email, I can contact 400 addresses at once and ask for letters • 3) continued – There is a coalition of citizen groups that has formed in the western states called • “Citizens for Responsible Transmission Line Siting” • CRTLS • Citizens from Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, California, Washington • All sharing information and what works and what doesn’t work • 4) Select routes that follow exiting ROW • 5) Use public land as much as possible – The new proposed B2H route now goes 88% over BLM land and only 12 % on private land – Be aware of environmental issues on public land • 6) If you use an environmental consulting group, find someone who is local and good Questions