UTILITY LINES TO REQUIRE A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT • The Juab County Commission has put a 180 day hold on high voltage utility lines permits in Juab County and will require a Conditional Use Permit on future lines. There is some concern about the number of lines coming down the Highway 132 corridor east of Nephi. Above, two lines can be seen on the hills north of the highway.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
It will not make a difference for the power transmission lines already scheduled to travel through Juab County, but any future lines will face more restrictions.
Juab County Commissioners determined Monday to pass a resolution of a notice of intent to amend the Land Use Code to provide high voltage transmission lines as a conditional use within the county.
"The county planning commission also requested that the county official map be updated," said Glenn Greenhalgh, county planning director.
Therefore, the commission also agreed to amend the official map contained in the Juab County General Plan to include specific utility corridors throughout Juab County.
During the time period of the notice, which is not to exceed 180 days, Juab County will not approve any high voltage transmission lines.
The decision, however, will not have any effect on Gateway South nor TransWest. Those projects are still making their way through the process to begin construction.
"By law, we can't close the door behind somebody but we can close the door before somebody," said Greenhalgh.
In the resolution, the commission directed the Juab County Planning Commission to diligently pursue completion of the Land Use Code changes and completion of the Official Map update, including the necessary hearings.
The planning commission will then recommend the resultant map to the county commission for action.
The TransWest Express Transmission Project is a high-voltage, direct current regional electric transmission system proposed by TransWest Express LLC.
The TWE Project will reliably deliver cost-effective renewable energy produced in Wyoming to the Desert Southwest region (California, Nevada, Arizona).
As part of PacifiCorp's Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion, the company is planning to build a high-voltage transmission line, known as Gateway South (Segment F), extending approximately 400 miles from the planned Aeolus substation in southeastern Wyoming into the new Clover substation near Mona, Utah.
Greenhalgh said that he and Chad Winn, commission chairman, attended a meeting last week with Gateway South officials and determined that the commission and those officials needed to have a dialogue about those lines and their movement through Juab County.
"The corridors on the BLM and Forest Service maps put everything on our bench," he said.
As far as the commission is concerned, said Winn, there is a difference in the TWE and Gateway projects.
The Gateway South provides benefits to the people of Utah and the TWE project is providing power for those outside of the state.
"There is a difference between intrastate and interstate," said Greenhalgh.
"I am not an expert on transmission lines," said Rick Carlton, commissioner.
Therefore, he said, he would like to see the commission seek help from an expert on the location of transmission lines so that a corridor could be provided that would not be as disruptive as piling project after project through the narrow canyon corridor to the east of the city.
"We will work through the rough draft ourselves and then we will seek help," said Greenhalgh.
At any rate, sometime within180 days the commission will hear from the planning commission and a rough draft will be presented for review.
The appropriate public meetings will also be held, said Greenhalgh.
