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BPA Hopes to Build New Transmission Line by Drew Foster The News Tribune, January 19, 2010

A new transmission line proposed to run between two Eastern Washington substations will help carry locally generated energy, including wind power, to the grid.

The Bonneville Power Administration is proposing to build a 40-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line between its existing Lower Monumental Substation south of Kahlotus in Walla Walla County to its planned Central Ferry Substation in Garfield County.

BPA is working on the transmission line's environmental impact statement and is mulling where to build the Central Ferry Substation.

"It's considered a package," said Doug Johnson, BPA spokesman.

BPA is considering two routes for the transmission line, both of which run south of the Snake River.

The routes mirror an existing transmission line, which Johnson said provides drawbacks and advantages to BPA.

"If you already have the right of way ... it can be less expensive to build the line because you don't have to acquire additional real estate," Johnson said.

However, if two lines are built next to each other, Johnson said a concentrated storm could knock them both offline.

The Central Ferry-Lower Monumental transmission line project, Johnson said, was proposed in response to local requests for an increase in transmission capacity.

Construction on the transmission line is to begin, at the earliest, in spring or summer 2011.

For more information on the transmission line, visit bpa.gov/go/centralferry.

Related Sites:
Proposed Central Ferry-Lower Monumental Transmission Line Project