345-kV Transmission Line Routing

We developed geographically diverse alternative routes for new transmission across a protected wildlife refuge in Texas.

Location

Texas, USA

Client

Confidential Electric Utility

Project Status

Completed

With a forecasted increase in industrial load and corresponding outage concerns, our Texas client needed to construct a new 345-kV transmission line along the Gulf Coast.

Our team performed an Environmental Assessment and Alternative Route Analysis to support the utility’s application for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas.

Our technical experts collected data — including helicopter surveys of bald eagle nests, wetland delineations, resource inventories and land use review, and historical and archaeological surveys — that identified areas of constraint and opportunity for routing the proposed transmission line.

From the information gathered, we developed a network of geographically diverse alternative routes and conducted an environmental impact analysis.

Unique riparian habitat

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)-designated Columbia Bottomlands comprise approximately 250 square miles of unique riparian habitat in southeast Texas, boasting hundred-year-old oak trees and the last of the Brazoria palm tree.

The habitat is also a key stop-over for a migratory bird population of 239 million individual birds, representing 237 species. Because the project passed through this sensitive ecological area, our client faced the possibility of needing to obtain an Individual Permit, which would have significantly delayed the project scheduled for permitting and construction.

Network of routing options

Through careful planning, we helped them identify routes that avoided these sensitive areas, as well as known Waters of the U.S. — including wetlands — which reduced anticipated impacts and avoided the need for an Individual Permit.

The study area also included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)-managed San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge and two large state-owned properties: one managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and one managed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

We helped our client develop a route that completely avoided the national wildlife refuge. Additionally, the routing and siting team coordinated with TPWD and TDCJ to minimize impacts on those properties while still providing the geographically diverse routing options required by the PUC.

Based on the analysis outcome, our team recommended two routes we believed best addressed the requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) and the PUC Substantive Rules, ultimately receiving approval from the PUC of Texas.

Miles of new transmission line

54+

Migratory bird population in wildlife refuge

239,000,000

We helped our client identify routes that avoided these sensitive areas, which reduced anticipated impacts and avoided the need for an Individual Permit.