Dec 11 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mike Corn The Hays Daily News, Kan.

Maps were the hot commodity Wednesday in La Crosse.

That's because virtually everyone wanted to know just how close a high-power electric transmission line might come to their property.

The line, proposed to be built by ITC Great Plains from Spearville to Hays and then on to Axtell, Neb., would be a high capacity line -- possibly one capable of carrying 765,000 volts of electricity.

While that might be its carrying capacity, it's unlikely the line actually will carry that much power initially.

Instead, ITC spokeswoman Kimberly Gencur Svaty said, the line likely will carry only 345,000 volts of electricity until it gets connected to other sources of power.

Those sources could include power from proposed wind farms in western Kansas, or from excess supplies of power in Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Either way, Earnie Lehman, president and general manager of Midwest Energy, said the line will be beneficial to customers of the utility he directs, especially once it can tap into those excess supplies in adjoining states. The first phase of the line would run from Spearville to the Knoll substation at the northwest edge of Hays.

In addition to his role at Midwest, Lehman also serves as vice chairman of the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority, which first proposed construction of the line. Had ITC not stepped up and offered to build it, KETA could have done so.

Wednesday's meeting in La Crosse, Gencur Svaty said, was the second of its type, with the first the night before at Spearville. There, nearly 150 people turned out.

The La Crosse crowd was bigger, but that didn't come as a surprise to her because the meeting was closer to Hays.

Gencur Svaty said the meeting was designed to gain input from people who live in the area around the line, all of which will be compiled for presentation to the Kansas Corporation Commission, which must approve construction of the line.

ITC hopes to present its plan in February to the KCC, which then has 120 days to issue a ruling.

A determination on the size of the line -- 345,000 volts or 765,000 volts -- also must be made, a decision that will be left up to the Southwest Power Pool, the traffic cop of electricity in the region.

If the line is designed to carry 765,000 volts, it would be the first of its size in Kansas, or for that matter, west of the Mississippi River.

A line that size, Gencur Svaty said, would be able to carry nearly all of the state's electrical generation capacity.

While the increased size would be able to carry power from a multitude of proposed wind generation sites, she said it's more likely the line would carry excess power from other states.

Depending on what size the line ultimately is will determine its cost. While the industry average is about $1 million a mile for 345,000-volt lines and $2 million for 765,000 volt lines, Gencur Svaty said she thinks the line can be built for less because of the terrain and the fact there are fewer large communities to avoid.

She also said ITC hopes to spread the cost of the line across the seven states in the Southwest Power Pool, rather than force Kansans to bear the cost alone.

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