PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Intermountain Region has experienced more than a decade of economic prosperity and growth. This, coupled with an increase in per customer electric usage, has resulted in a significant increase in overall demand for electricity in the region. PacifiCorp, doing business as Rocky Mountain Power, has determined that the southwest Utah transmission system will be fully utilized and require a minimum of 600 megawatts (MW) of reliable capacity by 2014. To meet this need, PacifiCorp proposes to construct a new 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting the Sigurd substation, located approximately six miles northeast of Richfield in Sevier County, Utah, to the Red Butte substation, located southwest of the town of Central in Washington County, Utah.
The Sigurd to Red Butte No. 2 345kV Transmission Project (Project) would be a single-circuit 345kV transmission line, approximately 160 miles long. The transmission line structures would be typically made of steel in an H-frame design and spaced approximately 1,000 to 1,200 feet apart (five to six per mile). Structures at angles, turning points, and close to substations would vary depending on the specific engineering requirements at these locations. Likewise, the design of structures in some locations may vary depending on the prescribed design and/or mitigation measures. The finish on the structures would be self-weathering steel or dull galvanized.
In December 2008, Rocky Mountain Power submitted the Sigurd to Red Butte No. 2 345kV Transmission Project Preliminary Right-of-Way Application Standard Form 299 (Application for Transportation and Utility Systems and Facilities on Federal Lands) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and United States Forest Service (USFS) for a right-of-way grant to cross public lands. Subsequently, the BLM has determined that an Environmental Impact Statement will be required for the Project. The Project would cross public lands administered by the BLM, USFS, and State of Utah, as well as privately-owned lands in portions of Sevier, Millard, Beaver, Iron, Piute, Garfield and Washington counties. Alternative routes that will be considered for the transmission line may impact the communities of Sigurd, Richfield, Joseph, Elsinore, Glenwood, Annabella, Monroe, Junction, Kingston, Circleville, Milford, Beaver, Newcastle, Minersville, Paragona, Parowan, Enoch, Enterprise, Pinto, Pine Valley, and Central.
>