Orono Substation Expansion - Enviromental Assessment (1)

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1 • Adverse effects on the sale price of smaller properties could be greater than effects on the , sale price of larger properties. • Other amenities, such as proximity to schools or jobs,lot size, square footage of a house and ' neighborhood characteristics,tend to have a much greater effect on sale price than the presence of a power line. • The adverse effects appear to diminish over time. • Effects on sale price are most often observed for property crossed by or immediately ' adjacent to a power line,but effects have also been observed for properties farther away from the line. • The value of agricultural property is likely to decrease if the power line poles are placed in an area that inhibits farm operations. Aesthetics The Project crosses a mixture of wooded and wetland areas. Depending upon the route,land uses are a mixture of utility,transportation,undeveloped residential and a regional park. The Project is located near a residential development,and a portion of the route would cross property that is owned by the homeowners association and maintained as undeveloped. U.S.Highway 12,a 4-lane limited access highway,and the BNSF railway pass through the northern portion of the route,while Hennepin County Road 6 is located to the south. There are two existing transmission lines near the Project area. Xcel Energy's 115 kV Line 0831 enters the Project area from the west. The structures for this line in the area are H-frame wood pole structures of approximately 60-75 feet. GRE's 69 kV BD line currently enters the Orono substation. The structures on the GRE 69 kV transmission line are wood single pole structures with heights of approximately 60 feet. The Project would introduce several changes to the existing landscape: an expanded substation,a new segment of double circuit 115/115 kV transmission line,relocation of a segment of single- circuit 115 kV transmission line,and relocation of a segment of 69 kV transmission line near the expanded substation. The existing 0.1 acre Orono Substation would be replace by a new substation with a fenced area of approximately 1.2 acres. The new substation would contain approximately eight pieces of electrical equipment and a new structure to house electrical control panels. The height of the new equipment would be approximately 13-18 feet. Installation of the expanded substation would also entail removal of scattered pockets of existing trees and other vegetation west and north of the existing substation location. The Project would consist of single and double-circuit 115 kV structures. All structures would be constructed of galvanized or weathering steel. As proposed,the Project would install five new double-circuit structures with heights of 75 to 115 feet,two cross-arm Y structures with heights of 70 to 90 feet and one single circuit structure with height of 70 to 90 feet (Xcel Energy,September 7, 2011). Structures are show in Figure 2. The installation of the transmission line would require tree clearing within an approximately 75-foot right-of-way. Estimates of vegetation clearing are provided in Section 5.14. The Project would be visible to residents in the Project area as well as those travelling through along ' U.S. Highway 12 and Hennepin County Road 6/6th Avenue North. The Orono Substation, Environmental Assessment ' PUC Docket E002/IL-11-223 Page 24