Power line project goes dark

Utility officials pulled the plug Wednesday on plans for a 600-mile transmission line project in Northern California.

"It's over," said Brendan Wonnacott, a spokesman for the Transmission Agency of Northern California.

In a telephone-conference call board meeting, the 15 TANC commissioners voted unanimously to end the environmental review process for the TANC Transmission Project, Wonnacott said.

TANC, a consortium of 15 North State public utilities, and the federal Western Area Power Administration announced plans in February for the new electrical route expected to cost $1.5 billion, potentially carrying up to 4,000 megawatts of renewable energy.

The project would have added or replaced nearly 600 miles of power lines, carrying 230 to 500 kilovolts, and built on 150- to 200-foot towers. The three proposed routes would have run primarily through agricultural and remote areas of the north state, including near the Sutter Buttes in Sutter County and south Yuba County.

Sutter County Supervisor Larry Munger's rice fields would have been directly below the middle of three proposed routes for the power line. He called for TANC and other utilities to upgrade existing transmission lines or at least use their existing rights of way, or else to follow major highways.

"It doesn't need to go down the middle of the valley. We've got too many (lines) in the valley anyway. I'm glad to see this dropped," he said.

Fellow Supervisor Larry Montna predicted that power demand will continue to grow, and that power line proposals will stir fresh controversies.

"Sometime they'll have to put the power line someplace and wherever they put it, someone's going to be upset," Montna said. "When I grew up, it was just a 100-watt light bulb in every room. We didn't have air conditioners, computers, TVs, washing machines. Everything takes power to run."

Yuba County Supervisor Mary Jane Griego's Duke's Diner restaurant in Olivehurst would have been close to the proposed easternmost route.

"When people come together and vocalize their concerns about projects that have such a huge impact on a community, they have the ability to catch the most important people's attention. When you get together and start squawking, things change," she said.

None of the power routed through the lines would have directly benefited the Mid-Valley.

The vote to terminate the project came on the heels of three key financial backers withdrawing their support. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District withdrew July 2, with districts in Modesto and Turlock quickly following suit.

"Without the financial backing of those three districts, it was impossible to go forward," Wonnacott said.

The news was greeted with cautious optimism by TANC opponents.

Power companies still face new state mandates to generate energy made without fossil fuels and future project proposals are likely, authorities said.

"I anticipate they'll regroup and start over with a different approach," said Colusa County Supervisor Kim Dolbow Vann.

Exactly how the Western Area Power Administration plans to respond to TANC's withdrawal was not clear.

WAPA spokeswoman Theresa Williams said officials still need time to "huddle internally" to determine what their next move may be.

"It's news to us as well. This morning was the first we'd heard of it," Williams said. "We'll know more in a few weeks."

WAPA, a Colorado-based federal agency that wholesales hydroelectric power throughout the West, still has a contractual agreement with TANC to conduct the federal environmental review process, Williams said.

She declined to speculate whether WAPA can continue with any type of power line project.

"We obviously still have to work a lot of things out," Williams said.

Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, who represents Sutter and Colusa counties, issued a statement praising the opposition efforts of "grassroots organizers."

Opposition groups, comprised primarily of potentially affected landowners and farmers, began cropping up throughout the North State after TANC announced project plans in February.

"This is welcome news to the people of Northern California who fought valiantly over the last several months to achieve this result," Nielsen stated.

Tri-County Newspapers reporter Rob Parsons can be reached at 934-6800 or at rparsons@tcnpress.com. Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune contributed to this report.