Transmission lines a highly charged subject; As routes planned, concerns arise

The hope for many is to have more wind farms spinning off dollars soon.

This push for wind energy in West Texas is consistent with the Obama administration's efforts to promote a green economy and with economic development officials at the state level trying something, anything, to jump-start ailing economies.

Wind energy in the Panhandle has become the darling of developers who see a profitable future. But establishing wind farms and erecting turbines are just part of the answer. Capturing the wind is an initial step; it's another matter to transport that energy.

Companies are working with state and local planners and the Texas Public Utility Commission to establish transmission lines in the region. But the push to delineate those lines is running headlong into concerns by those with property along the proposed routes. They contend that transmission lines would devalue their property, or harm efforts at developing their land.

It's a slow process; people hoping to benefit from large-scale wind installations will have to wait a couple of years as the process picks up speed.

Cross Texas Transmission started its public meetings Tuesday in Childress, followed by meetings in Wellington and McLean. About 650 people attended the meetings, said Cameron Fredkin, director of project development at Cross Texas.

The meetings are being conducted to solicit comment for the route Cross Texas is promoting roughly from southeast of Childress to Lefors.

"Most of the feedback has been positive," Fredkin said. "But there's always some who aren't happy about a route. But these are alternatives. We're only going to build one."

The company has an office in Pampa to help inform the public.

"I'd say 88 percent are positive, 10 percent are unsure because they don't have enough information and 2 percent are concerned," said Julie Ramsey, a public relations representative in the office. "Their land's been in the family for generations or they have environmental concerns."

Counties have granted property tax abatements and schools have accepted deals for fixed payments in place of taxes to encourage wind developers to locate in their vicinity.

The Amarillo Economic Development Corp. is constructing a $4.5 million manufacturing facility for Zarges Aluminum Systems to build components like ladders and platforms for inside the towers that the turbines sit on.

In addition to the money that will go to landowners with turbines on their properties, wind farm development benefits local economies through job creation, local spending, property and sales taxes, and easement payments to landowners with transmission towers, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

And many local residents are ready for that to happen.

"I think it will be good for our economy," said Mark Cadra, who runs cattle and farms northeast of McLean and hopes to have wind facilities on his land. "We need something to take up the slack where the oil fields are slacking off."

Jean Keith has property about two miles from McLean and attended the Cross Texas meeting there to find out more about what might happen.

"I wanted to see if the farm would be productive," she said. "But it won't. They said it's too close to town."

And as supporters wait, planners are working.

"We're following a very precise process from the (PUC)," said Jeanne Phillips, a spokeswoman for Sharyland Utilities.

Sharyland has conducted 10 meetings in the Panhandle to get public input about its proposed routes for lines from near White Deer to the Hereford vicinity. About 1,100 people attended those meetings.

Cross Texas and Sharyland have targeted early 2010 to file proposals with the PUC. The agency then will evaluate them and pick a final route. The companies hope to begin construction in mid-2011 and have the lines operating by 2013.

They will conduct more public meetings later this year for lines with later deadlines for filing proposals.

Some landowners in Randall County are working to change routes there for a variety of reasons.

Bev Dampf recently addressed Randall County commissioners on the subject. He expressed frustration with a lack of support from the city of Amarillo and the county for opposition to a line proposed to run roughly along Sundown Lane just south of the city.

"These would be monuments to bad government," he said.

He and his wife Beverly cite health concerns and a fear the lines would devalue property they own that could be developed as Amarillo grows south.

"We don't think they should go through north Randall County and we don't think they should go through the canyon," Beverly Dampf said, referring to lines proposed to cross Palo Duro Canyon north of the state park.

David Currie and his sister, Susan Rogers, are passionate about their family's ranch that is crossed on maps by the proposed routes. They hike down the steep canyon walls without hesitation, intimately familiar with the land, and point out where the 125-foot towers would go to carry the transmission lines. Below, a ribbon of trees turning gold winds along the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River.

"There's only one Palo Duro Canyon," Rogers said. "The scenic beauty would be destroyed forever and there are historical sites here."

Currie said they have spoken to their neighbors on both sides of the canyon and they're also concerned.

Both acknowledge there is the devaluation of property to consider, as would be the case all along the lines, but preserving the natural appeal of the canyon is a key concern. There's also the fear of the lines causing wildfires impossible to fight with the numerous cedar trees along the canyon walls. Air traffic, such as helicopters going up and down the canyon, is another concern.

All the proposed routes started with suggestions by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the operator of the grid that covers most of the state. That's where the wind energy will go.

Hunter Hunt, president of Hunt Utilities, the parent of Sharyland, said his company has taken note of comments from all the meetings it conducted and is taking them into consideration.

"The constructive feedback ... has led Sharyland to explore new route options that fall outside of ERCOT's 'rough draft' for routes," he wrote in a recent opinion column that appeared in the Amarillo Globe-News.