Puget Sound Energy has begun the process of weighing potential route alternatives for a proposed transmission line from Redmond to Kirkland.
The utility wants to construct 4.5 miles of 115 kilovolt line that would run from the Sammamish substation (9221 willows Rd. N.E. in Redmond) to the Juanita substation (10910 N.E. 132nd St. in Kirkland).
PSE officials gave a project overview to more than a dozen city officials and neighborhood leaders from both cities during its first stakeholder advisory group meeting at the Baymont Inn in Kirkland on Sept. 29.
Customers in the area can expect more reliable service once the project is completed, said Barry Lombard, PSE project manager.
He explained the electrical system in the northern Redmond-Kirkland area, known as the Moorlands system, is comprised of the Sammamish, Moorlands and Cottage Brook substations, plus 12 other local substations.
Those substations are all served by three local 115 kV transmission lines, which supply power to approximately 150,000 customers in residential areas.
The system faces two problems – reliability and capacity, said Lombard.
“If two of the lines should go out, the way the system is now, that would result in all 12 substations in that area losing power,” he said. “So we’re building a new line to make sure we have enough reliability so that if there’s an accident like that we don’t lose 150,000 people all at once.”
Demand for power is also growing in the Kirkland, Redmond, Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville areas, as customers use more electronics and more houses are built. The transmission lines are reaching their capacity limits, said Lombard.
Under certain conditions, such as during summer and winter peaks, the existing system can be overloaded and result in loss of service to customers.
Adding the new Sammamish-Juanita transmission line will allow PSE to accommodate the area’s future need for power and reduce the possibility of system overloads in the next 20 years or so, added Lombard.
The first phase of the project – the Sammamish-Juanita line – will allow PSE to move two substations off the Moorlands system, while increasing available system capacity and improving reliability.
The company plans to begin construction on the approximately $5-$6 million project in the summer of 2013.
Phase 2, likely years in the future, would involve adding another Juanita-Moorlands transmission line.
Over the next few months, PSE will work with the advisory group to develop possible route alternatives that reflect community input.
“We’re using a geospatial model that layers all of the different constraints, land uses and zoning areas,” said Lombard. “Then depending on how (the community) values different things – like wetlands or forest or residential areas – it will find the path of least resistance.”
PSE plans to hold a public open house this fall to gather community feedback on possible route alternatives. The advisory group will also consider community input that was gathered during initial community meetings in 2008 and 2009.
“They certainly had strong opinions where this line should go,” said Lombard of the earlier meetings. “So we’ll take it all into consideration and we just hope to find the route that is the most acceptable to the community.”
PSE expects to choose a preferred route by February 2012.
Discussions will also include whether to construct an overhead or underground line, although undergrounding is up to 10 times more expensive and would need to be funded in part by the local jurisdictions, Lombard noted.
Once construction is complete in 2013, the project cost will go into PSE’s rate base and be absorbed by all customers, said Lombard.
More information
The next advisory group meeting will be held from 5:30-8 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Baymont Inn and Suites, 12223 N.E. 116th St., Kirkland. The group will review past routing alternatives.
For more information about the project, visit www.pse.com/SammJuan115, email info@sammjuan115.com or call Barry Lombard, PSE project manager, at 425-456-2230.
