Pinal power line done, but TEP waiting on $61M substation to energize
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has completed construction of a new 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line in Pinal County that will strengthen service reliability for customers in Southern Arizona -- but the work does not end there.
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Credit: Chinnasorn Pangcharoen |
The $76 million line construction project will help TEP meet future energy needs in Tucson, and the surrounding region, by expanding access to renewable energy and other generating resources.
The Pinal Central-Tortolita transmission line extends about 41 miles from the Pinal Central Substation east of Casa Grande to TEP's Tortolita Substation, located southeast of the Red Rock area.
To build the line, crews suspended high-capacity conductors from more than 180 steel poles and structures -- each 150 to 190 feet tall -- along a route approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2012.
The line is expected to be energized in November -- once a $61 million expansion of the Tortolita Substation is complete.
Since the beginning of 2012, TEP has invested more than $450 million in upgrades to its transmission and distribution system. These investments have helped TEP address changing energy needs, while preserving electric reliability and speeding service restoration in the event of an outage.
TEP isn't done yet. It has other improvements planned to its transmission and distribution systems this fall. TEP's planned projects will upgrade a robust electrical system that spans 1,155 square miles. TEP's system includes approximately 5,100 miles of transmission and distribution lines, more than 4,300 cable-miles of underground distribution lines, and nearly 100,000 power poles and transmission structures.
TEP is upgrading several 138 kV transmission lines to accommodate increased energy deliveries through the Pinal Central-Tortolita line. The utility will spend $2 million to install new, higher capacity wires and other equipment along a 10-mile stretch of a line linking North Loop Substation to the Rillito Substation. TEP is also investing $3 million in similar upgrades to a line connecting the North Loop Substation and the West Ina Substation, located near Interstate 10 and West Ina Road. Upgrades to three other 138-kV lines were completed earlier this year.
A new power line, which will connect into the Pinal Central Substation, will provide a path for renewable energy projects from New Mexico. Sponsored by TEP and SRP, among others, the SunZia project consists of two bi-directional extra-high voltage electric transmission lines and substations that will transport energy from Arizona and New Mexico to customers and markets across the Desert Southwest. SunZia, which has a total transmission capacity approved rating from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council of 3,000 MW for two single-circuit 500 kV AC lines, is expected to be online by 2020.
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