Tucson Electric Power Co. has formally filed for state approval of a controversial new high-voltage transmission line that will run through much of central Tucson, amid ongoing objections from several historic neighborhoods along the route.
In a filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission late Tuesday, TEP stuck to its preferred route for the Kino to DeMoss-Petrie Transmission Line, a proposed 138-kilovolt transmission line spanning about seven miles from a substation at East 36th Street and South Kino Parkway to a substation and power plant just east of Interstate 10, north of West Grant Road.
The application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility — filed after nearly two years of study and public-comment session — now will be considered by the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee.
After holding public hearings, the committee will decide whether to issue a certificate for final approval by the full Corporation Commission, likely within a few months.
TEP hopes to put the new transmission line into service by 2023.
Meanwhile, TEP plans to host a final public open house on the power-line proposal virtually on Thursday, Aug. 19. For details and more information on the project, go to tep.com/kino-to-demoss-petrie.
TEP’s preferred route would run along the east side of the University of Arizona campus and north up North Campbell Avenue to reach a planned substation just north of Banner-University Medical Center Tucson, before zigzagging east and north to West Grant Road.
The project will feature power poles roughly every 650 feet, generally ranging from rom 75 feet to 93 feet tall, with a few poles as tall as 120 feet, TEP says.
TEP says the power line and substation project is needed to boost power capacity and improve reliability, and to tie into the UA and Banner-UMC to meet growing demand and serve 100% renewable energy to the campus.
But the plan has drawn stiff opposition from residents of Sam Hughes and other historic neighborhoods.
TEP’s preferred route along North Campbell would run along the edges of the Sam Hughes and Blenman Elm neighborhoods, and the route leading west from the planned Vine Substation on the UA campus would cut through the Jefferson Park neighborhood.
The plan has also drawn fire from Tucson City Council members including Steve Kozachik who cited city requirements for underground utility lines in city-designated “Gateway Corridors” including North Campbell Avenue.
In its application to state regulators, TEP added back one proposed alternative route, dubbed 5A, that would route the line to the west of the UA campus to avoid the Campbell Avenue corridor.
TEP said it was including that route segment, which had been dropped from consideration as the utility refined the line segments in mid-2020, as an alternative to the Campbell alignment.
But the company noted that the 5A route — which would run up Euclid Avenue between Broadway and Speedway — would take the line through a historic preservation zone in the West University neighborhood and cost up to 60% more than other routes.
Meanwhile, Sam Hughes, Jefferson Park and about 10 other neighborhood associations have formed a group called the Underground Coalition, urging TEP to bury all or parts of the roughly seven-mile-long transmission line underground.
TEP has said it did not propose burying the lines and recovering the cost through rates because it is unnecessary and too costly for ratepayers, citing a study showing that “undergrounding” similar transmission lines costs more than 13 times the cost of overhead lines, which it estimated at about $1 million per mile.
The utility says it would support creation of a special taxing district to pay for undergrounding the line.
But supporters of burying the line say TEP has overstated the costs and point out that the entire city will benefit from the preservation of a vital city gateway.
In May, a city zoning examiner denied TEP’s request for a special exception land-use permit to build the new Vine Substation, citing a lack of information on the proposed line’s compliance with area development plans.
