A controversial high-voltage transmission line that could bring power poles up to 130 feet tall in some areas of midtown Tucson received unanimous approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission Thursday.
The ACC approved a Certificate of Environmental Capability for the Tucson Electric Power project, which has been in the works for several years.
While TEP says it hopes to complete the work by summer 2027, the utility will first have to get special exceptions from the city to build the Midtown Reliability Project above ground, as a city ordinance prohibits the installation of overhead power lines in designated βgateway corridors.β
A photo of the current view looking south from the east side along North Euclid Avenue, from a point just south of East Speedway (top image), compared with a simulated image of the same point with 138-kilovolt transmission lines and poles installed. The comparison was generated by TEP as part of its bid for approval of its Midtown Reliability Project and is on TEPβs preferred route for the controversial power line.
Tucson Electric Power has 10 weeks to apply for the special exception. If the special exception is not granted, the city and the utility will have six months from the ACCβs approval on Thursday to find an alternative funding source for undergrounding portions of the line that does not increase rates for customers. But that possible alternative funding source, if it is eventually needed, has not been identified yet, says TEP spokesman Joe Barrios.
TEPβs position is that if the exception isnβt granted within six months and thereβs no agreement for an alternate funding source, it can proceed with the above ground construction, a news release said.
The city said Thursday after the vote that it would work to ensure that TEP is afforded the best opportunity to increase its capacity for the midtown area and broader community, while still adhering to the requirements of Tucson code.
In May 2023, Tucson voters rejected a ballot measure that included an underground utility fee for TEP customers to support the transmission line.
Residents along the route of the transmission line β like the Sam Hughes, Jefferson Park and West University neighborhood associations β have expressed concern about the impact it would have on property values and the visual blight.
A few members of the ACC, however, rejected the notion that aesthetics should be taken into consideration as TEP argues that the transmission line is needed to meet surging power demand given that midtownβs current 46-kV transmission system was built in the 1950s and 1960s and is nearing capacity.
TEP plans to hold public outreach meetings βas part of these waiver requests,β it said.
In July, the Arizona Power Plant and Line Siting Committee recommended the utilityβs preferred route, but also recommended alternative segments β including a route down North Campbell Avenue opposed by the city but favored by some neighborhoods. And the panel included language intended to prompt the city and TEP to reach a compromise on whether some parts of the new line may need to be installed underground to comply with city ordinances or area plans.
But the committee also approved another conditional finding that the state law applies and Tucsonβs ordinances can be overridden, citing a Corporation Commission policy against ratepayers funding overhead lines adopted last December.
The utility contends that state law allows it to place overhead lines wherever it needs to, and has refused to consider requesting raising rates to pay for undergrounding costs it has pegged as 10 to 20 times the cost of overhead lines β pushing up the price tag of the project by $67 million.
Backed by a recent court decision, the city has said it will continue to defend its ordinances restricting overhead lines along key corridors, in the face of possible appeals by TEP.
Working with TEP, the city added transmission lines to an existing process of βspecial exceptionsβ that would allow overhead lines on a case-by-case basis.
Daniel Dempsey, a director of the nonprofit Underground Arizona, says the ACCβs decision came βas expected,β and that βthe fight to have TEP treat Tucson with the same respectβ that other utilities βtreat their municipalities continues.β
β(The mayor and city council) have stood strong and I have every reason to expect that to continue. The city cannot cede its authority to the ACC, especially such flimsily constructed authority, without a fight,β he said in a statement to the Star. βI think itβs important to understand that this is a bigger fight than just the UA area.
βIf the city cannot enforce its laws here, then they cannot enforce them anywhere and TEP can always get the ACC to supersede because the upfront incremental cost of undergrounding is always higher,β Dempsey said. βSo, effectively, the ACC will have invalidated all undergrounding laws. Thatβs not the ACCβs statutory role. It cannot dictate local laws.β
Preferred route
TEPβs βMidtown Reliability Projectβ will connect three substations across central Tucson via 12 miles of 138-kilovolt transmission lines, suspended by 75- to 85-foot-tall poles for the majority of the project. In some areas, poles could be up to 130 feet tall.
The utilityβs preferred route, identified as βB4β in project materials, connects DeMoss-Petrie, near Grant Road and I-10, to the proposed Vine Substation near Banner-University Medical Center via Grant Road, North Park Avenue, East Adams Street and North Vine Avenue.
The route connects the Vine Substation to the substation at South Kino Parkway and East 36th Street using Vine, Adams and Park before turning west on East Speedway and then south on South Euclid Avenue. After crossing Barraza Aviation Highway, the route continues on South Toole Avenue, Euclid and 36th Street.
TEP says the route minimizes crossing of residential neighborhoods, though opponents noted that some stretches are purely residential and streets like Euclid host a mix of homes and businesses.
But that route mostly avoids running afoul of a city ban on overhead lines on North Campbell and concerns Banner expressed about medical helicopter operations and operational disruptions should TEP use a route that includes North Campbell or a private drive on the hospitalβs north side.
As alternatives, the line siting committee recommended a northern route (D) that runs from West Grant directly south on North Campbell, jogs west just north of Banner-UMC on East Lester Avenue to link to the Vine Substation and a southern segment (1) that runs south on Campbell all the way to the Kino substation.
In light of Bannerβs concerns, the panel also offered as an alternative for a hybrid route that heads west of the hospital campus, using Vine, East Mabel Street and East Speedway to link up with North Campbell and points south.
TEP has been working since 2019 to get approval for the new, 138-kilovolt line to link the DeMoss-Petrie substation to the substation at East 36th Street and South Kino Parkway via a new substation next to Banner-UMC.
Three years into this saga, in 2022, the utility withdrew its original line-siting application for the project after being rebuffed by the city for needed zoning approvals β which has cited ordinances prohibiting the installation of overhead powerlines in designated βgateway corridorsβ including North Campbell Avenue.
To view an interactive map of the route, visit tep.com/midtown.
