norman
country-financial
March 29, 2024 6:05 am
Your hometown Newspaper since 1987.
Search
Close this search box.

OPD Approves Agreement To Revive Old Transmission Project

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

The Overton Power District Board of Trustees, in a meeting last week, approved an agreement to participate with other regional utility providers in procuring the remaining federal right-of-way approvals on a transmission line project that has been in the works since 2008. The cost of the studies and environmental work involved in obtaining the right-of-way approvals is not to exceed $42,000 to the district, according to the agreement.

OPD General Manager Mendis Cooper explained the scope of the transmission project to the board at Wednesday’s meeting in Mesquite. He said that all of the energy purchased by the district is delivered through the Mead Substation, a major hub for electricity throughout the region. Mead is located in the El Dorado Valley.

Currently the power is transmitted from Mead to the OPD Tortoise Substation in Moapa along lines owned by NV Energy. The OPD pays NV Energy about $1.2 million per year in transmission costs for that service, Cooper said.

To cut those costs, OPD has been working with fellow members of the Silver State Energy Association (SSEA) to develop a new transmission line running north from Mead, through National Park Service and BLM land, to the Gemmill Substation at Coyote Springs. From there the line would branch to the east to connect with Tortoise Substation and enter the OPD grid, also serving Lincoln County in the process. Another branch of the line would extend north and feed into proposed water pumping facilities being proposed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA).

“The idea is that, if the line was built, we could put the amount that we are paying in transmission fees to NV Energy into the debt for the line construction,” Cooper said. “Then, once the line is paid off, that expense would go away and we would own a portion of the line.”

A previous agreement to procure the right-of-way was approved in 2008 by the OPD Board. Most of the right-of-way work was completed by consultants in the years following that. But in 2011, the project came to a halt due to difficulties in obtaining approval from the National Park Service to gain right-of-way through a one mile stretch of the Sunrise Mountain Instant Study Area.

Approximately $451,500 was expended by the SSEA on those previous right-of-way efforts.

OPD has a 42 percent commitment in the future ownership of the line, and in funding its development. So the district paid about $190,000 of those costs.

Earlier this year, the Sunrise Mountain Instant Study Area was opened by Congressional action. So the SSEA proposed to resume work on the final portion of right-of-way needed for the line, Cooper explaind.

“At this point, time is of the essence,” Cooper said. “Some of the areas we are trying to go through with this line are fairly congested. There are already two lines running through there already. So we want to make sure that we get in there before somebody else comes in and takes it. If that happens we will have no other option but to run all the way around to the west of Las Vegas and that will increase the costs of the project significantly.”

OPD Board member James Pugh asked what the timeframe would be to complete the right-of-way approvals.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Cooper said. “The BLM says that it should only take about 18 months. But I’ve never seen these things move that fast. In fact, I’ve never seen it happen in less than five years.”

Thus the projected $42,000 cost would be spread out over the long period of the project, Cooper said. If the project came in at less cost, then the district couldpocket the savings. If the project exceeds that amount, a revision would have to be brought before the board, Cooper said.

Cooper emphasized that there were no concrete plans to begin actual construction on the line.

“A major factor (in timeframe of construction) is Southern Nevada Water Authority,” Cooper said. “They are also participating at 42 percent and they probably won’t be ready to pay for construction until they have the authority to pump water in those areas up north. So it could be a while.”

Pugh made a motion to approve the agreement as proposed.

“I’ve studied this out pretty thoroughly and I think it is a very good idea,” Pugh said.

The board accepted Pugh’s motion with a unanimous vote.

In other business at the meeting, the board reviewed the results of a survey of 1,300 district residents regarding a possible solar garden generating facility being considered for installation by the district.

Cooper reported that only 46.9 percent of respondents said that they had ever heard of a solar garden. Only 36.4 percent said that they knew what a solar garden was. Even so, 75.9 percent of the respondents said that the OPD should install a solar garden.

Over 56 percent of those surveyed said that they would be willing to participate in a solar energy program, even if it meant paying a premium for the power.

But very few of those were willing to enter into a long-term contract to participate in those costs. About 57 percent said they would be unwilling to enter any contract; 25 percent were willing to enter a five year contract; and only 9 percent would commit as far out as 10 years.

Cooper explained the purpose of the survey was to gauge the willingness among ratepayers of participating in a solar garden program.

But Cooper was encouraged by the interest level in the survey.

“The next step is to run the numbers and find out how much it will cost to install each garden and then go from there,” he said.

The solar gardens would be installed at OPD substations where the infrastructure is already in place to accept the power. That would keep the costs lower, Cooper said.

Print This Article:

Share This Article:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Screen Shot 2023-02-05 at 10.55.46 PM
2-21-2024-fullpagefair
4 Youth Service WEB
2-28-2024 WEB Hole Foods St Patricks
No data was found
2023 WEB BANNER 2 DEFAULT AD whitneyswater
Mesquite Works Web Ad 10-2020
Scroll to Top
Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Get notified about new articles