Docket No. 06-172-U George W. Carpenter
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BEFORE THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC SERVICE COMMlSSlON IN TH€ MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF SOUTHWESTERN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY 1 FOR A CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE DOCKET NO. 06-172-U AND NECESSITY TO REBUILD AND CONVERT ITS EXISTING 69 KV TRANSMISSION LINE TU 161 KV 1 BETWEEN SWEPCO'S FAYETTEVILLE AND NORTH ) FAYETTEVILLE SUBSTATIONS, ALL LOCATED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN ARKANSAS REBUTTAL TESTIMONY OF GEORGE W. CARPENTER March 16,2007 BEFORE THE ARKANSAS PUBLfC SERVICE COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF SOUTHWESTERN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY I G FOR A GERTIFKATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE 1 DOCKET NO.06- I 72. i AND NECESSfTY TO REBUILD AND CONVERT ITS ) 8 EXISTING 69 KV TRANSMlSSlON LINE TO 161 KV ) 9 BETWEEN SWEPCO’S FAYETTEVILLE AND NORTH ) 10 FAYETTEVILLE SUBSTATIONS, ALL LOCATED IN ) 11 WASHfNGTON COUNTY iN ARKANSAS 1 I2 REBUTTAL TESTIMONY OF GEORGE W. CARPENTER 13 Q. Please state your name. 14 A. My name is George W, Carpenter 1s Q. Are you the same George W. Carpenter that filed testimony previously 16 in this case? 17 A. Yes. is Q. Are there corrections to your earlier filed testimony? 19 A. Yes. Throughout my testimony, I make reference to the mute study 20 pehrmed by P8S8J. f have been provided corrected pages 4-28 and 4-29 21 to that study. Those corrected pages are attached hereto and incorporated 22 into my orjginal Exhibit C as though set out therein word fur word. 23 Q. Have you had the opportunity to review the public comments and the 24 Petition to Intervene filed by Irene Pritchard and Thomas Brown? 25 A. Yes. 26 Q. In Attachment 1 to the Petition to Intervene filed by Irene Pritchard and 27 Thomas Brown, the statement is made that the “edge of town” route has REBUlTAL TESTIMONY GEORGE W. CARPENTER an estimated cos4 of $9,572,036.00 to $t0,072,036.00. Is this cost estimate accurate? A. No, it is not. The "edge of town" mute suggested by PrifchardlBrown would cost in excess of $15 million. The added cost for the transmission line aione would be $12.f miIlion, In addition, there would be right-of-way costs of approximatety $3.7 million, assuming acquisition of right-of-way at an average 1 of $50,000.00per acre. This estimate is likely conservative, with some data 8 supporting higher right-of-way costs that could double easement acquisition 9 costs, pushing total transmission costs to approximately $20 million. 10 Q. Are there other examples of above ground transmission lines traversing 11 cityscapes with which you are familiar? 12 A. Yes. Most cities have overhead transmission lines to provide reliable sources t3 to their substations serving their distribution load, which are typically centrally 14 located mar the city's load centers. Most of these systems, like Fayetteville, 15 have evolved over time as the city grew and the electrical system developed 16 to meet the growing electrical demand. 17 Several cities of comparable size to Fayetteville in this region have 18 overhead transmission lines supplying their electrical needs. There are 19 transmission lines in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas along Markham Street, 20 which are even greater in size than the transmission line proposed in this 21 docket. Attached to this rebuttal testimony as Exhibit "A is a series of 12 photographs showing these transmission facilities in Little Rock. REBUITAL TESTIMONY GEORGE W. CARPENTER 1 In Tulsa, Oklahoma there are 738 kV transmission overhead lines in several downtown areas, some within two blocks of my office at Public Service Company of Oklahoma, sister company to SWEPCO. Attached as Exhibit “B” is a series of photographs, which depict the overhead transmission 5 fines in the greater downtown Tulsa area. 6 Shreveport, Louisiana, home of SWEPCO’s headquarters, also has 7 overhead transmission lines in the downtown area to serve electrical loads. 8 Attached as Exhibit ‘IC” is another series of photographs, which depict 9 transmission lines in downtown Shreveport in the Red River District along the IO parkway and river. This is an entertainment district as well as the location for It the recent fitming af several movies. These tines run directly in front of 12 several older buildings that have been renovated, as well as through the site 13 of Festival Plaza which is the location of several festivals throughout the year, 14 including the Red River Revel. is Q. The City of Fayettevilte has suggested that the upgrade of the existing 1b transmission line with “larger more massive towers will impact the ‘view 17 shed’ of 01d Main”. Are the assertions of the City of Fayetteville 18 correct? 19 A, No. First, there is no plan to rebuild the existing 69 kV single pole line in the 20 Fayetteville project with towers, which usually refers to steel lattice towers 21 with multiple legs in contrast to a single pole design. The existing wooden 22 poles, averaging approximately 65 feet in height, will be replaced with single 23 steel poles, which are anticipated to average approximately 85 feet in height. REBUTT A1 TEST1 MONY GEORGE W. CARPENTER 4of8 Second, the notion that the single steel poles replacing the existing wood poles would ”impact the view shed of Old Main” fails to recognize that other development is occurring in the Dickson Street area that will have a significant impact to any “view shed”. This nation that the new steel pules, being a few feet taller and a few inches greater in diameter than the existing wood poles, would have a significant impact on the view of Old Main from 7 anywhere in the Dickson Street area is incorrect. In fact, this notion ignores 8 the fact that existing trees already mask the view of Old Main in most 9 locations and that new development in the Dickson Street area will in fact 10 result in a much greater impact to any view of Old Main and will help hide the II view of the new poles. In order to allow the Commission and others to 12 visualize the change in appearance, I have commissioned the preparation of 13 simulated photographs which depict a before and after view of the proposed 14 transmission the in the Dickson Street area, in relationship to the evolution of building development in the area. Attached hereto as Exhibit “D” is a series of drawings which illustrate my point. Lastly, attached to my testimony is a DVD, marked Exhibit “F” that shows the view of Old Main (or lack thereof) a5 one walks and drives along Dickson Street. Lafayette and Maple Streets in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In 20 fact, the view of Old Main would be much more substantially impacted by II foltowing one of the alternate routes included in the routing study 22 commissioned by SWEPCO. One tine segment included in the route study 23 routed the line on Arkansas Street. directly in front of and at nearty the same REBUITAL TESTIMONY GEORGE W. CARPENTER 5 of 8 elevation (instead of a block east and at a considerably lower elevation) where the Old Main view would be much more impacted. 3 Q. Who prepared the DVD marked as Exhibit “F?” 4 A. This film was taken by Franklin Everts of Ozark Film and Video Productions. 5 3804 Kelley Avenue, Springdale, Arkansas, 72762 on Monday, March 12, G 2007. 7 Q. Does Exhibit “F” accurately depict the conditions existing in 8 Fayetteville, Arkansas In the area which is the subject of this docket? 9 A. Yes, it does. IO Q. Are there other projects in the City of Fayetteville that will impact the 11 view shed of Old Main? 12 A. Yes. There is presently under wnstruction a multistoried condominium 13 complex on Dickson Street called ‘The Lofts” on the southwest corner of 14 Gregg and Dickson streets. This complex will be taller than the typical 15 transmission poles that will be installed in the Dickson Street area. “The 16 Lofts” can been seen in the 3‘ picture of Exhibit “0” which is looking in a 17 southwesterly direction at the Gregg Street and Dickson Street intersection. 18 The model of ‘The Lofts” depicted herein is the exact model of the planned 19 building prepared by and supplied tu SWEPCO by the University of Arkansas. In addition, the City of Fayetteville officials have indicated that they anticipate an additional development on what is now the Mr. Tux property on the nortt.lwest corner of Gregg and Dickson streets. This building is projected to be at least 6 stories in height, making it approximately as tall as the REBUTTAL TESTIMONY GEORGE W. CARPENTER 6of8 proposed new steel poles, and is depicted by a typical building model in the 4’ picture of Exhibit I’D.” Also mentioned by the City of Fayetteville was the potential for a multistory building on the southeast corner of Gregg and Dickson streets. This potential development is depicted by a typical building model in the 5’ picture of Exhibit “0.” As can be clearly seen by the simulation, the 7 commercial building developments will, in most cases, be as tall or taller than 8 the proposed steel poles and will have a much greater impact to the area 9 ‘view shed”, as well as shield the transmission line. 10 Q. The City of Fayetteville has suggested that SWEPCO should bear the 11 cost of burying the transmission lines in the two and one half block area I2 between Dickson Street and Maple Street. What is the estimated cost to I3 bury the transmission lines for that distance? i? A. I’m told that costs to bury the electric facilities in this area should be estimated 15 in the $5 million range.