Thursday, December 17, 2009

A FUTURE NATIONAL GRID PROJECT

I saw this legal notice for National Grid that notes the main line heading through Royalton will be getting an upgrade in the future if everything is approved by the State...



PUBLIC NOTICEIN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORPORATION D/B/A NATIONAL GRID FOR A CERTIFICATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY AND PUBLIC NEED FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF TRANSMISSION LINE 111 FROM LOCKPORT TO MORTIMER, NEW YORK

Pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law of the State of New York, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid is providing public notice of its intent to file an Application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the reconstruction of approximately 56 miles of a 115 kV single-circuit transmission line for circuit 111 (“Line 111”) that is located within an existing National Grid right-of-way from the Lockport Substation in the City of Lockport to the Mortimer Substation in the Town of Brighton along Niagara, Orleans, and Monroe Counties (the “Project”), as further described below. The Project is needed to replace facilities that have deteriorated and have reached the end of their service lives.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORPORATION, d/b/a NATIONAL GRID (“National Grid” or the “Applicant”), on or about December 30, 2009 will file an application in the above entitled matter with the Public Service Commission for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law.

During the course of the proceedings, alternate routes not included in the application filing or affected by the proposed primary route may be offered without further notice by publication. In addition, the Public Service Commission may, without further notice by publication, approve a route for the line that traverses municipalities not presently affected by the proposed primary route. A copy of the application filed with the Public Service Commission will be served upon the chief executive officers of Niagara, Orleans and Monroe Counties; the Towns of Lockport, Royalton, Shelby, Barre, Clarendon, Sweden, Ogden, Gates, Chili, and Brighton; and the Cities of Lockport and Rochester (the municipalities traversed by the proposed primary route); as well as the chief executive officers of the County of Genesee; the Towns of Oakfield, Byron, Elba, Albion, Riga, Murray, Ridgeway, Pendleton, Bergen, Henrietta, and Alabama; and the Villages of Brockport, Holley, Spencerport, Middleport, Medina and Albion (the municipalities which are traversed by the proposed alternative routes discussed in Exhibit 3 of the Application and not by the proposed primary route) and will be available in the local public libraries in or closest to each community on or before the same date as the application is filed with the Public Service Commission.

GENERAL INFORMATION

National Grid is proposing a rebuild of the existing Lockport-Mortimer Line 111 in Niagara, Orleans and Monroe Counties. The Project is a rebuild of approximately 56 miles of single-circuit 115 kV transmission line from the Lockport Substation in the City of Lockport in the west to the Mortimer Substation in the Town of Brighton in the east. The Lockport-Mortimer Line 111 shares an electric transmission corridor with the double-circuit Lines 113/114 for the entire length. Lines 107, 108, and 112 also share the corridor beginning approximately 11 miles east of the Lockport Substation. The transmission right-of-way is generally 200 feet wide along most of the 56 miles with Line 111 typically centered within the right-of-way. The reconstruction will improve the electric system reliability and increase the efficiency of the electric power system in the state. National Grid holds all necessary property rights for the proposed transmission lines including fee interests, easements and licenses. The reconstruction is subject to the permitting requirements of Article VII of the New York State Public Service Law, and National Grid must receive a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need from the Public Service Commission.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

The Project will entail rebuilding Line 111 along the current centerline, entirely within the existing right-of-way. Replacement structures will be located in approximately the same locations as the existing structures, with some structures offset between 10 and 30 feet along the existing centerline. Line 111 is supported by 618 structures, 523 of which are the original 1906 three-legged “Aeromotor” or windmill style steel structures. 553 of the 618 existing structures will be replaced with either single wood pole structures with steel davit arms or steel pole (dead-end) structures. The remaining 65 existing wood and steel structures will be reused. Additionally, access roads will be improved, deteriorated culverts or other drainage devices will be replaced, and new erosion controls will be installed, where appropriate and as required along the right-of-way to support construction and continued maintenance of the facility. Several alternatives were analyzed resulting in the final proposal as described below. These alternatives are discussed in National Grid’s application.

PROPOSED ROUTE

The proposed route will be the same route that currently hosts Line 111. In general terms, the proposed route will exit northeast from the Lockport Substation in the City of Lockport and run in an easterly direction through the City of Lockport, the Towns of Lockport, Royalton, Shelby, Barre, Clarendon, Sweden, Ogden, Gates, and Chili, and the City of Rochester, for approximately 56 miles to the Mortimer substation in the Town of Brighton. The precise route is described in Exhibit 2 of the Applicant’s filing, which will be available for public inspection as described below.

DATE OF ARTICLE VII FILING

National Grid expects to file an Article VII application with the Public Service Commission on or about December 30, 2009. Copies of the application will be available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618; the Byron-Bergen Public Library, 13 South Lake Avenue, P.O. Box 430, Bergen, NY 14416; the Chili Public Library, 3333 Chili Avenue, Rochester, NY 14624; the Community Free Library, 86 Public Square, Holley, NY 14470; the Corfu Free Library, 7 Maple Avenue, P.O. Box 419, Corfu, NY 14036; the Gates Public Library, 1605 Buffalo Road, Rochester, NY 14624; the Gilliam-Grant Community Center, 6966 West Bergen Road, Bergen, NY 14416; the Greece Public Library, 2 Vince Tofany Boulevard, Greece, NY 14612; the Hamlin Public Library, 422 Hamlin-Clarkson T.L. Road, Hamlin, NY 14464; the Haxton Memorial Library, 3 North Pearly Street, Oakfield, NY 14125; the Henrietta Public Library, 455 Calkins Road, Henrietta, NY 14623; the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, 620 West Avenue, Medina, NY 14103; the Lockport Public Library, 23 East Avenue, Lockport, NY 14094; the Mendon Public Library, 15 Monroe Street, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472; the Middleport Free Library, 9 Vernon Street, Middleport, NY 14105; the Newman Riga Library, 1 Village Park, Churchville, NY 14428; the Ogden Farmers Library, 267 Ogden Center Road, Spencerport, NY 14559; the Parma Public Library, 7 West Avenue, Hilton, NY 14468; the Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross Street, Batavia, NY 14020; the Rochester Public Library, 115 South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604; the Rush Public Library, 5977 East Henrietta Road, Rush, NY 14543; the Scottsville Free Library, 29 Main Street, Scottsville, NY 14546; the Seymour Library, 161 East Avenue, Brockport, NY 14420; the Swan Library, 4 North Main Street, Albion, NY 14411; the Woodward Memorial Library, 7 Wolcott Street, LeRoy, NY 14482; and the Yates Community Library, 15 North Main Street, P.O. Box 485, Lyndonville, NY 14098. In addition, copies of the application will be available for public inspection at the Department of Public Service Offices in Albany (Office of Central Files, 14th Floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223).

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

For information or assistance concerning the application, interested persons may contact the following:

Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling
Secretary
State of New York Public Service Commission
Empire State Plaza
Agency Building 3
Albany, NY 12223-1350
Phone: 518-474-6530
Fax: 518-486-6081

Email: secretary@dps.state.ny.us

Christopher K. Denny, P.E.
Project Manager
National Grid
300 Erie Boulevard West
Syracuse, New York 13202-4250

(800) 356-0050

chris.denny@us.ngrid.com