PSE Presents Plan to Construct Regional Transmission Lines

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) introduced plans to connect new transmission lines through Bonney Lake to Puyallup at a public meeting on May 5 at the Sumner Library.

About 30 people came to hear about the Puget Sound Energy transmission line and substation projects, which details the layout of approximately eight miles of 230 kilovolt line, from the White River transmission station in Bonney Lake to the Alderton switching station in Puyallup. The construction of the transmission lines will take roughly 6-8 months and cost an estimate of $7 to 8 million.

“The project will increase electric capacity and reliability for approximately 108,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers served by 17 local distribution substations in and around Sumner, Bonney Lake, Oriting and east Pierce County areas,” said Lindsey Walimaki, PSE spokeswoman.

The eight added miles of transmission line will help the existing electric grid, which is approaching capacity, according to PSE.com. If one of the two transformers in the area is out of service due to scheduled maintenance or equipment failure, it severely limits the region electric capacity and causes reliability concerns, Walimaki said.  

“Adding a third transformer at Alderton will allow us to back up the two existing transformers at White River and add redundancy to our system,” Walimaki.

At the meeting, three alternative routes for the transmission line were introduced. There was a West Route, Central Route and East Route. PSE believes the West Route is the best option because the route allows PSE the best opportunity to avoid impacts such as residential property owners, clearing of forested areas and commercial areas. The route will be studied further before a final decision is made.

From the 16 comment cards PSE received from community members, 13 comments were in support of the West Route, said Walimaki.

“Some of the reasoning behind their support included less residences would be affected, the route is less obtrusive because it passes through an industrial area, and it would allow us to preserve the character of downtown Sumner,” said Walimaki.

The next steps for PSE include meeting again with the advisory group to bring back the feedback collected at the public meeting and further discuss the preliminary preferred route.

PSE will be holding a second open house public meeting in the summer or fall to announce the preferred route. In the fall, PSE plans to begin surveys, environmental studies and engineering, said Walimaki.  

Summer 2013 is the earliest possible construction start date but it depends on when PSE receives permits to begin.

For more information visit PSE.com/Pierce230kV or e-mail the project team at info@PSEpierce230kV.com.