May 7 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Tony Marrero Hernando Today, Brooksville, Fla.

County commissioners are drawing a line in the sand over power lines.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to "demand" that Progress Energy install any new transmission lines underground in existing utility corridors and "with the best available technology."

The commission asked County Attorney Garth Coller to draft the letter to the power company.

Commissioner Chris Kingsley asked that the issue of the lines be placed on the agenda, prompting half a dozen residents to voice concerns about the prospect of unsightly lines cutting through the county, the effects on property values and the possibility that Progress Energy could seize land through eminent domain.

Commissioner Dave Russell made the motion and insisted on the strong wording.

"I believe it's important that we're clear in our message that we won't settle for second best, that we want the best technology to be available here in Hernando," Russell said after the meeting. "My gosh, we're basically being used as a conduit to supply power to other areas, so why should we settle for less?"

When a resident asked during the meeting what recourse the county would have if Progress Energy "flips you off and says we're going to do it the way we want do it," Stabins said the county would ask Gov. Charlie Crist and his cabinet for help.

Progress Energy has proposed a new nuclear power plant for a 3,000-acre site located roughly seven miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and about eight miles northeast of the company's existing plant in Crystal River. The company must run some 200 miles of transmission lines from the plant to meet a burgeoning demand for electricity in this region's 10 fastest growing counties, officials have said.

Progress aims to have the plant online by 2016. The planning for the placement of transmission lines has already begun, however.

In Hernando, the company has three, one-mile wide study areas. One is along an existing transmission line corridor that runs partially along Sunshine Grove Road. A second follows the Suncoast Parkway. A third is farther west, closer to U.S. 19.

The lines could be installed on single steel polesthat are either 110 feet or 165 feet tall;the H-frame or two-pole structures are roughly 120 feet tall. The structures would be spaced 700 to 1,300 feet apart, depending on the type of poles and the terrain.

During recent open house meetings hosted by the company here and in other counties, residents overwhelmingly agreed that the company should run the lines in existing corridors. Company officials said they would do so where possible. But when the question arises of why the lines cannot be installed underground, Progress Energy officials cite the higher cost, the difficulty to maintain and to repair the lines and the extensive environmental impact.

The smaller, so-called distribution lines that run through neighborhoods are frequently installed underground, Progress Energy spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs said Tuesday.

But the higher-voltage transmission lines running from power plants "are a different animal," Jacobs said.

Outages occur less frequently when the lines are underground, but the lines take much longer to repair, she said. If the area floods, the company would have to wait for the water to recede before making repairs.

A 16-foot wide trench must be dug at least six and a half feet deep to accommodate the lines and prevent cave-ins during construction. Manholes would have to be installed every 1,500 to 2,000 feet. For these reasons, only about 2 percent of the nation's transmission lines are run underground, Jacobs said.

The company expects to send its preferred corridors to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for review no later than next month, she said.

A few other governments are grumbling about the power lines, but Hernando is the first to demand underground lines, Jacobs said.

"We're happy to sit down with Hernando officials and discuss the technical aspects," she said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.