Climate and energy

Reprinted in full from Harris News.

Duel over transmission lines could continue

By Chris Green

TOPEKA — An unprecedented battle between two utilities seeking to build key high-voltage transmission lines in southwest Kansas looked poised to stretch on into the future Wednesday.

Despite a proposed settlement aimed at allowing each company to build a portion of the project, the fight over the so-called V-plan looked likely to remain before utility regulators instead.

Electric power providers for central and western Kansas announced late Tuesday evening that they had reached a deal with a transmission-building utility, ITC Great Plains, to construct two of the plan’s three sections.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and Mid-Kansas Electric Co., both based in Hays and run by the same six rural electric cooperatives, also extended an offer to the state’s largest electric utility, Topeka-based Westar Energy.

Westar would be allowed to build the third section of the line, which would run from Medicine Lodge to just outside Wichita, according to company officials.

ITC Great Plans would be responsible for building a first section running from Spearville to Comanche County and a second piece extending to Medicine Lodge.

The two sections that would be built by ITC Great Plains sit wholly within the service territories of Sunflower and Mid-Kansas Electric while the third section extends eight miles into Westar’s service area.

“We think this is a proposed settlement amongst all interested parties in the state of Kansas to move this project forward,” ITC Great Plains President Carl Huslig told Kansas Electric Transmission Authority in Topeka Wednesday morning.

But Westar spokesman Jim Ludwig said it will be up to the Kansas Corporation Commission to decide which firm will construct the project.

“We have joined with the right partners to get that line built as efficiently and in the most timely way possible,” Ludwig said. “We remain committed to entire project, not just some portion of it.”

Westar is asking state utility regulators to block ITC Great Plains’ bid to build the entire V-project, which could be the most electrified transmission line west of the Mississippi River.

The company instead wants its own cooperative venture, Prairie Wind Transmission, to build the V-plan with a spur extending down in Comanche County to connect with Oklahoma’s transmission network.

By the end of the year, Kansas should have 1,000 megawatts of wind power online, making it among the first 10 states to accomplish such a goal and the first to do so without a mandate, according to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

But some state energy experts consider the transmission line project crucial to the further development of wind energy production in Kansas. That’s because the lines would provide a way for southwest Kansas wind farms to send more power to eastern Kansas.

State officials say that it’s highly unusual for two entities to compete for the right to build the same transmission line.

Larry Holloway, chief of energy operations for the KCC, told the transmission authority Wednesday, said his agency’s legal staff can find no other case where that’s occurred.

“This is somewhat unique,” Holloway said.

On Tuesday, commissioners issued an order designed to launch the process of resolving the question of which company should be allowed to build the lines.

The commission asked its staff to summarize the issues it will need to decide, propose ways for making those determinations and suggest a schedule for resolving the case. They asked for the report to be filed within 30 days.

Westar and ITC Great Plains, as well as several other parties involved in the case, will have 15 days to provide a response after the report is filed.

Recent developments in the Kansas transmission discussion have been widely reported in trade and business journals. They also made it into Reuters, on the Industrials side.

Also from the Hays Daily News (story by Mike Corn), how the construction of the transmission lines relates to the proposed Sunflower 1400 MW coal plant, which was defeated last legislative session:

At stake is something of a turf battle for both utilities. Sunflower and Mid-Kansas argue they have the right to build the line in the area they serve. Westar serves most of the area Sunflower is offering to let them build.

ITC Great Plains would do the actual construction, with Sunflower and Mid-Kansas operating and maintaining the line. ITC would charge for electricity that flows along the line. Sunflower spokesman Steve Miller said the line is unrelated to the proposed construction of two new units at the Holcomb power plant outside of Garden City.

That process has been stalled since the request for an air permit for the plants was denied by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Despite legislative efforts to overturn the decision, the case now is pending before the Kansas Supreme Court.

If the Holcomb plants are built, lines running into Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas could be needed because utilities in those states have agreed to build the plants, which would then be operated by Sunflower.

Because Westar has proposed building the line, the decision on who ultimately will construct it will fall to both the Southwest Power Pool and the KCC. SPP will have to determine if the project is financially feasible and if utility companies served by the line can contribute to the cost.

The KCC will have to determine who has the right to build the line, given it crosses areas covered by at least two utilities. The battle already has generated considerable paperwork for the state agency.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org