ACC on people’s side for Pinal line
3-2 vote places power route in path of developments

East Valley Tribune
By Le Templar
August 17, 2005

The Arizona Corporation Commission bucked land developers and Pinal County officials Tuesday, siding with more than 600 homeowners over the best route for a gigantic power line west of Florence.

"We have a chance today to send a message in Arizona that developers don’t rule the day, at least when it comes to siting our electrical grid," commission member Kris Mayes said before the vote.

The commission unanimously endorsed a request from Salt River Project to build a 100-mile transmission line to deliver electricity from the Palo Verde nuclear plant in western Maricopa County to Mesa and other parts of the East Valley.

But commission members were divided on where the power line should be built as it passes north through a fivemile corridor between Coolidge and Florence. On a 3-2 vote, the commission picked a path that will bring the 500-kilovolt line closer to Florence and through future upscale subdivisions.

The rejected path— called the "backward C" design along state Route 287 and Hunt Highway — was a compromise reached among SRP, Florence officials, several major home builders and area property owner Harrison Merrill. It was approved in May by a state power plant committee.

Commissioners cited several concerns with the "backward C," including the number of houses in its path and the extra miles of construction it would have required.

"If we choose the ‘backward C,’ people who live along that route will not have a choice about living near the line," said commissioner member Bill Mundell. "We will shove it down their throat, basically."

Homeowners who begged for the commission to intervene were thrilled.

"To be honest, that surprises me," said Alan Jorgensen, a Florence architect who lives in Oasis at Magic Ranch. "I had no idea that the commission wouldn’t fold under the pressure from those big developers."

But the two dissenting commission members said every proposed alternative would have affected existing homeowners. A portion of the path approved Tuesday passes along railroad tracks where a new subdivision, Wildhorse Estates, has been opening homes since late last year.

"The numbers are roughly equal no matter where we go," said commission chairman Jeff Hatch-Miller. "We’re going to shift the problem to a new group of people who never thought the line was going to go by them."

The commission’s decision came after eight hours of public testimony Monday and Tuesday that focused largely on the debate about the "backward C" design. Pinal County elected officials asked the commission to recognize their united support for a route that had been mapped after three years of review and negotiation.

As part of that alliance, other cities in Pinal County backed Florence’s position that the power line shouldn’t cross Merrill Ranch and other planned developments that are projected to host up to 40,000 new homes in the next 20 years.

An angry Florence Mayor Tom Rankin said after Tuesday’s vote that rural areas of Arizona no longer have a voice before the commission because all five members live in Maricopa County.

"They have done more to destroy the future of Florence today than government has done in the past 150 years," Rankin said.

Despite his disappointment, Rankin said he doesn’t expect Florence to file any lawsuits challenging the route change.

The 500-kilovolt power line is the largest type used in Arizona to transmit electricity from generating stations. SRP applied to build the power line as part of a consortium of utilities including Arizona Public Service that wants to increase the electricity supply for the East Valley and northeast Pinal County.

SRP officials said they intend to start the project, which will cost more than $250 million, at the eastern and western ends within the next year and finish the connection by 2011.