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Welcome
to the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) website for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
review of
Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E’s) proposed Santa Cruz
115 kV
Reinforcement Project (Project). PG&E submitted an application
to the CPUC
for a Permit to Construct (PTC) this project on January 25, 2012. This
site
provides access to public documents and information relevant to the
CEQA
environmental review process.
Background
The
proposed Project would increase transmission system
reliability in the Santa Cruz area during outages. The project will add
a
second 115 kV circuit between Green Valley Substation and Rob Roy
Substation to
prevent potential large-scale service interruptions if there are
overlapping
outages in the existing local electricity supply system. The proposed
project
includes converting the existing 7.1 miles of single-circuit 115 kV
power line
to a double-circuit 115 kV power line by replacing existing wood poles
with tubular
steel poles (TSPs); constructing a new, approximately 1.7-mile-long
single-circuit 115 kV power line connecting the Green Valley-Camp Evers
115 kV
Power Line to Rob Roy Substation; and modifying the existing Rob Roy
Substation
and existing power lines to accommodate the new circuit.
The
new circuit will
provide two sources of power in the event of an outage on either the
southern
line between Green Valley Substation and Rob Roy Substation or on the
existing
northern line between Green Valley Substation and Camp Evers
Substation.
Project Description
The
project is located in southern Santa Cruz County,
California near the cities of Watsonville and Aptos. The project
traverses an
area of rolling terrain, including agricultural valleys and grassland,
as well
as low ridgelines forested with mature trees. The predominant
development
pattern throughout the project area is a mix of low-density
residential, open
space, and agricultural land uses. The agricultural areas are
predominantly
apple orchards, berry orchards, livestock pastures, and row crops.
The
primary project
components are summarized below:
- Northern Alignment – approximately 7.1 miles of an
existing single-circuit 115 kV power line will be converted to a
double-circuit 115 kV power line by replacing existing wood poles with
TSPs.
- Cox-Freedom Segment - a new, approximately
1.7-mile-long single-circuit 115 kV power line connecting the Green
Valley-Camp Evers 115 kV Power Line to Rob Roy Substation will be
constructed in an existing distribution line alignment by installing
new poles and collocating some existing distribution facilities.
- Rob Roy Substation Modifications - the existing
substation will be modified to accommodate the new circuit.
- Rob Roy Substation Connections – one new TSP will
be installed and two existing power poles will be replaced with TSPs to
accommodate the interconnection of existing power lines following
modification of Rob Roy Substation.
Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA)
PG&E filed an application (A. 12-01-012) for a
Permit to
Construct and the Proponent's Environemtal Assessment on January 25,
2012. The PEA is astarting point for the
independent environmental review process conducted by the CPUC.
The application and PEA can be viewed here: Application
(6.6 MB) PEA
(25.7 MB)
Environmental Review
PG&E’s
Application and PEA were deemed
complete by
the CPUC on April 24, 2012.
Draft
Initial Study/Mitigated Negative
Declaration
The
CPUC has determined that an Initial Study/Mitigated
Negative Declaration (IS/MND) appears to be the appropriate CEQA
document to
prepare for this Project. The Draft IS/MND is currently under
preparation.
For
Additional Information
Additional information will be posted at this site as it
becomes publically available.
The CPUC, through its Environmental Review Team, is
conducting an environmental review of the project. To
request additional information, ask a question, or be added to
the project mailing list,
please contact:
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Voicemail
or Fax
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(650)
373 - 1200
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U.S.
Mail or Courier
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Lisa
Orsaba
California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave, 4th Floor
San Francisco CA
c/o Panorama
1 Embarcadero Center, Suite 740
San Francisco, CA, 94111
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Email
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santacruz115kvproject@panoramaenv.com
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