A proposed high-voltage transmission line into the San Luis Valley is sparking a debate over preserving the valley’s scenic and wildlife resources versus the need to transport renewable energy to the Front Range.
The battle lines were drawn in testimony filed Thursday with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
The commission must rule on the $180 million project proposed by Xcel Energy and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
The valley is now served by one transmission line coming over Poncha Pass to the north.
The new 230-kilovolt line would come over La Veta Pass from Walsenburg, assuring electricity supplies to the region and bringing solar power to urban areas, utility officials say.
“It is a difficult call,” said Lowery Brown, a senior policy analyst with Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder-based environmental-policy and law center. “The valley has solar-energy potential that could be an enormous benefit to Colorado, but new transmission is needed to get it out.”
Western Resource Advocates filed testimony in support of the line — with conditions to ensure that solar- energy projects are done, valley power needs are met and environmental impacts are limited.
The conservation group Colorado Open Lands and the state Division of Wildlife voiced concerns about the impact a transmission line could have on scenic and wildlife resources.
The 140-mile line would have “a negative impact on the land and resources,” Daniel Pike, president of Colorado Open Lands, said in his testimony.
The Trinchera Ranch — owned by billionaire hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon — filed testimony and a report proposing alternatives to the La Veta Pass route, which crosses the 175,000- acre ranch.
Among the proposals:
• Upgrade existing lines and a transformer.
• Add 150 megawatts of solar energy with power storage to reliably service the valley.
• Add a 230-kilovolt line north over Poncha Pass.
“All these alternatives meet the reliability need, allow for getting solar out of the valley and are less expensive than the proposed line,” said Cody Wertz, a spokesman for Trinchera Ranch.
Xcel and Tri-State say they want the east-west La Veta Pass line to back up and reduce risks of forest fire or electrical failure along the north- south Poncha Pass line.
“Xcel and Tri-State have not shown there is a demonstrable risk over Poncha Pass,” Wertz said.
Xcel disagrees.
“We believe that the proposed southern transmission route makes the best sense from a reliability and — quite frankly — a common-sense standpoint,” said Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz.
A new Poncha Pass line would require an extra 60 to 70 miles of line at about $1 million a mile, Stutz said.
The PUC will hold hearings on the proposal Nov. 9 in Walsenburg and Nov. 10 in Alamosa.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
