Two Arizona chambers take stand against planned high-voltage line
The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson --Jul. 22
Jul. 22--Business leaders in Santa Cruz County and Green Valley on Wednesday took a position against a Tucson Electric Power Co. proposal to build a high-voltage transmission line in their area.
The TEP proposal comes from a mandate issued in 1999 by the Arizona
Corporation Commission to add a second transmission line to improve reliability
of service to customers in the area.
The proposed project -- with the capacity to carry 500,000 watts of electric
power -- is overkill, said Garry Hembree, president of the Tubac Chamber of
Commerce.
Rich Bohman, vice president of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council, said
recent work on electric power distribution has improved reliability.
"We think there are better solutions than just running a big power line
down the valley," Bohman said.
In the near term, Santa Cruz County will be using only about one-fifth of the
capacity of the proposed lines, said Steve Lynn, vice president of TEP's parent
company, Uni-Source Energy.
Tucson Electric Power is proposing to build and operate two lines along a
route starting at a substation near Sahuarita and ending at a proposed
substation to be located west of Nogales. The lines would be carried by
140-foot-high towers with a 125-foot right of way at the base.
Green Valley and Tubac community members support an alternative that would
provide a backup transmission line for power to the fast-growing Rio Rico
community. Their alternative would extend a TEP transmission line to carry
electric power to two additional Santa Cruz County substations.
The alternative proposal would not meet the energy needs of Santa Cruz
County, said Joe Salkowski, TEP spokesman.
"Santa Cruz County needs a second high-voltage transmission line capable
of providing continuous power to maintain adequate reliability and continuity of
service," Salkowski said.
Arleen Boyuls, president of the Green Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the
alternative supported by her chamber would be more "palatable to developers
-- not having these gigantic towers going through our community." The
utility towers proposed by TEP would be unsightly and hinder residential
development in southern Green Valley, Boyuls said.
"We want a better solution, and we have the better solution," said
Ellen Kurz, a Tubac resident for 28 years.
The Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce is taking a look at the
alternative, said Dan Doyle, chairman of the Nogales Chamber executive board.
Doyle said the chamber has not taken a position on the TEP proposal.
"Are we doing anything for Nogales, or is Nogales only a corridor into
Mexico? We need some answers," Doyle said.
The TEP proposal includes plans to connect the electrical system in the
United States with the system in Mexico. The company expects the project to
improve electric reliability in Southern Arizona by allowing energy exchanges
with Sonora.
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