The power utility owned by four Northern Colorado cities delivered a stinging reply on Wednesday to a bid by Fort Collins to delay completion of a high-voltage power line serving Loveland.
Platte River Power Authority, in an eight-page letter to Fort Collins officials, disputes Fort Collins’ claims that the power line was designed without proper environmental review and without sufficient public notice and input.
The seven-mile, 230-kilovolt Dixon-Horseshoe line that would boost the reliability of Loveland’s electric supply is two-thirds complete.
But Fort Collins wants to block construction of the project’s third leg, one that traverses the Pineridge Natural Area in west Fort Collins, and in an Aug. 18 letter called on PRPA to bury the line rather than stringing it on overhead poles.
The utility, owned by Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Estes Park, has said that the underground alternative would add more than $13 million to the cost of the project and delay it by two to three years.
The letter from Fort Collins threatens a lawsuit if PRPA does not agree to a project delay and design review by Friday.
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