In an ongoing effort to gather public input concerning a new transmission line to be built in the Hill Country, LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC) will hold settlement conferences with intervenors in Eldorado, Junction and Fredericksburg this month.

These meetings will be with landowners who have filed paper work to be intervenors in the McCamey D to Kendall to Gillespie docket now under consideration by the Public Utility Commission.

LCRA TSC is encouraging intervenors with suggestions for route modifications that would reduce the impact of the transmission line that may cross their property to work closely with its representatives available at the conferences.  Large parcel maps will be available and used in the settlement discussions. LCRA TSC will supplement its filing to include the technically feasible landowner suggested segment modifications for the consideration by the PUC. Intervenors who suggest route modifications are not endorsing the route or giving up their opportunity for further discussions with LCRA TSC or opportunities to participate in the ongoing hearing process.

Settlement Conferences will begin each day at 9 a.m. and will be held:

• Sept. 20 – Eldorado, Schleicher County Civic Center, 427 U.S. Highway 277
• Sept. 21 – Junction, Coke R. Stevenson Memorial Center, 440 N. U.S. Highway 83
• Sept. 22 – Fredericksburg, Gillespie County Farm Bureau, 237 Equestrian Drive

Only routing on specific parcels of land will be discussed at the conferences. Payment for transmission line easements will not be discussed. However, after the PUC selects a route, scheduled to occur sometime in January 2011, LCRA TSC will meet with directly affected landowners to discuss compensation for the use of their properties. LCRA TSC pays fair market value for transmission line easements.

LCRA TSC continues to review suggested segment modifications. These potential modifications relate to individual parcels of land that could be affected by the route the PUC eventually will select. LCRA TSC will supplement its late July application filed with the PUC to include the technically feasible landowner suggested segment modifications so the commission can decide whether to approve them.  

Shortly after the new transmission line application was filed, LCRA TSC mailed letters to more than 5,100 potentially affected landowners. The application also contained several segment modifications proposed by landowners that would serve to reduce the impact of the transmission line on their property.

If approved, the new 345-kilovolt line will be built from near Eldorado in Schleicher County to a station near Comfort in Kendall County and on to a station north of Fredericksburg in central Gillespie County. The line could be between 157 and 199 miles, depending on the route selected. Counties affected include Schleicher, Sutton, Kimble, Kerr, Kendall, Gillespie, Menard and Mason counties. More than 1,000 parties have intervened in this case.

Other important related dates

• Oct. 22 – A final prehearing conference on this case, PUC Docket No. 38354, will begin at 10 a.m. in Austin at a location to be determined. At this conference, parties will be aligned.
• Oct. 25 through Nov. 5 – A hearing on the merits will be held in Austin at a location to be determined.

The line is part of a $4.9 billion effort mandated by the Texas Legislature to allow for reliable and cost-effective delivery of power produced from areas in West Texas and the Panhandle, called Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ), to homes and businesses throughout the state.

For more information, go to the LCRA website at www.lcra.org/crez, or call 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 4151 or Ext. 4590.