NPPD power line project entering 2nd phase
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BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star
Construction of a high-voltage power line from Columbus to Lincoln is under way, and Nebraska Public Power District officials urge people to be cautious of vehicles and equipment, especially in rural areas.
Over the next 10 months, hundreds of workers will be putting the line together.
And with harvest season beginning soon, power line workers and residents need to pay attention for cement trucks, pole-hauling vehicles and line-stringing equipment, said Ron Asche, NPPD president and CEO.
After 18 months of construction, the Omaha Public Power District energized its new transmission line between Nebraska City and Lincoln July 31.
The 50-mile high-voltage line carries electricity from the OPPD coal plant just south of Nebraska City to a substation on the southeast edge of Lincoln.
The project cost $33.5 million.
OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson said the utility is still reaching settlements with landowners whose property was damaged during construction.
The Omaha-based utility already has a 650-megawatt coal-fired power plant — Nebraska City Unit 1 — at the site and is building a second 660-megawatt plant next door. Nebraska City Unit 2 is scheduled to be begin commercial operation in May.
OPPD will use half of the output from Nebraska City Unit 2. The rest will be used by seven participants in the project: Nebraska Public Power District; Nebraska City Utilities; Falls City Utilities; City of Grand Island Utilities Department; City of Independence (Missouri) Power & Light; Missouri Joint Electric Utility Commission; and Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency.
See a safety problem?
The Nebraska Public Power District wants to hear about potential safety problems along the high-voltage power line construction project between Columbus and Lincoln. Call (888) 387-7765 or e-mail etr@nppd.com.
NPPD officials on Wednesday gave an update on the $175 million project. Officially known as the Electric Transmission Reliability or ETR project, the 80-mile line is designed to improve power transmission reliability in east-central Nebraska.
The first phase of the project from Norfolk to near Columbus is almost finished. Work is now under way on the second phase, from Columbus to Lincoln, or about 80 miles. NPPD hopes to have the latter segment in service by June 2009.
Right of way acquisition is progressing along the route, including in Seward County, where the NPPD line route was opposed by officials and landowners. They were concerned about potential harm the 345-kilovolt line would have on feedlot operations and development on the northeast edge of Seward.
Ed Wagner, vice president of customer services for NPPD, said Lincoln is in a “good position” — it will benefit from the NPPD transmission line and the just-completed Omaha Public Power District line from Nebraska City.
Construction manager Bob Goyette said construction is under way from Rising City north to Columbus, and all right of way easements were acquired for that 6-mile segment.
The next step will be to build four steel lattice towers to support the 345-kilovolt line across the Platte River. Steel single poles will be used along the rest of the route.
During construction, workers will need a 200-foot-wide right of way to erect the poles, Goyette said. Some hedgerows will be removed, he said, but the line was moved in sensitive areas in accordance with landowner wishes.
Goyette said crews will try to avoid damaging fields and crops, but it may not always be possible. NPPD will pay for damages and restoration work, which could take from six weeks to three months, he said.
NPPD officials said they are working with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and other agencies to protect the Platte and other environmentally sensitive areas, like Pawnee and Twin lakes near Lincoln.
No piping plovers or least terns, both federally protected species, were found in the area of the Platte where the line will cross. NPPD also plans to install “bird diverters” along that stretch to help prevent bird collisions with the power lines.
NPPD will have to increase wholesale and retail rates in the future to pay for the transmission line “but I would not call it significant,” Asche said.
Based on current information, the Columbus-based utility estimates wholesale rates will increase by 2.25 percent and retail rates by 1.5 percent. The rate increases are proposed for 2010.
The increases would cover the $175 million in construction costs and $10 million in interest costs over a 30-year period.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 402-473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
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