APPENDIX F TransWest Express Transmission Project Jurisdictional Meeting Materials and Communications Appendix F-1—Jurisdictional Meeting Materials Appendix F-2—Notice of Jurisdiction Appendix F-3—Fee Statement Appendix F-4—2019 Application Submittal Supplemental Information Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act Section 109 Permit Application – TransWest Express LLC F - 0001 This page intentionally left blank Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act Section 109 Permit Application – TransWest Express LLC F - 0002 APPENDIX F-1 Jurisdictional Meeting Materials Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act Section 109 Permit Application – TransWest Express LLC F - 0003 This page intentionally left blank Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act Section 109 Permit Application – TransWest Express LLC F - 0004 WYOMING INDUSTRIAL SITING DIVISION TransWest Express Transmission Project Jurisdictional Meeting Materials April 20, 2018 F - 0005 This Page Intentionally Left Blank F - 0006 REQUIRED INFORMATION A. Project Name TransWest Express Transmission Project B. Applicant TransWest Express LLC C. Applicant Point of Contact for Application Development Garry L. Miller Vice President, Land and Environmental Affairs TransWest Express LLC 555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2400 Denver, CO 80202 (303) 299-1546 E-mail: [email protected] D. Applicant’s Wyoming Attorney Hickey & Evans, LLP Paul J. Hickey, Partner 1800 Carey Avenue, Suite 700 Cheyenne, WY 82003 (307) 634-1525 E-mail: [email protected] E. Applicant’s Consultant and Point of Contact SWCA Environmental Consultants David Fetter Project Manager 2120 S. College Ave, Suite 2 Ft Collins, CO 80525 (970) 988-7013 E-mail: [email protected] 1 F - 0007 F. Project Description The TransWest Express Transmission Project (“TWE Project”) is a high voltage transmission system that will extend across four states from south-central Wyoming to Southern Nevada. The TWE Project will include 730 miles of transmission line and three terminals located in Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. The system will be capable of transmitting 3,000 MW of electric energy (enough energy to power more than 1,800,000 homes), and will incorporate both high voltage direct current (HVDC) and high voltage alternating current (HVAC) technology. The HVDC segment of the system will transmit power from Wyoming and across Colorado to Utah with maximum efficiency, and the HVAC system will transmit power from Utah to southern Nevada with the flexibility to connect with other systems along the route. Converter stations in both Wyoming and Utah will allow the TWE Project’s HVDC system to interconnect with other HVAC systems, including PacifiCorp’s existing Platte-Point of Rock line, PacifiCorp’s planned Energy Gateway West Segment line, and Power Company of Wyoming’s Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. A detailed description of the TWE Project’s technical components is attached as Exhibit 1. In Wyoming, the TWE Project will include the Northern Terminal, an associated ground electrode, and a converter station, all in Carbon County near the town of Sinclair. In addition, about 93 miles of transmission line will extend west and south from the Northern Terminal to the Colorado state line, crossing portions of both Carbon and Sweetwater Counties. G. Project Location Map A map of the TWE Project as a whole is attached as Exhibit 2, and a map of the Wyoming segment is attached as Exhibit 3. H. Preliminary Site Plan A preliminary site plan for the Northern Terminal area is attached as Exhibit 4. I. Land Ownership and Status of Federal Permitting Within Wyoming, much of the TWE Project (including the Northern Terminal, ground electrode, converter station, and about two-thirds of the Transmission Line) will be located in the ownership region known as the “checkerboard,” where land ownership alternates between private lands, federal lands managed by the BLM, and state lands administered by the State Land Board and/or the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The remainder of the TWE Project will be located mostly on federal lands managed by the BLM. In total, within Wyoming, about 54% of the Project is located on federal lands managed by the BLM, about 12% are on state lands, and about 33% are on private lands. The proposed Northern Terminal and converter station will be located on 180 acres of private land owned by The Overland Trail Cattle Company LLC about three miles southwest of the Town of Sinclair, Wyoming. The associated ground electrode will be located about eight miles south of the 2 F - 0008 terminal on state land. Exhibit 5 provides a more detailed summary of land ownership in the Wyoming project area. Major land uses in the Wyoming project area include oil and gas production and livestock grazing. The only industrial uses are the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project in Carbon County and a few industrial uses along the Interstate 80 corridor. Agricultural production consists of irrigated pasture and hay land, generally limited to the valley floors north of Baggs, Wyoming. Due to the Project’s use of BLM land, TransWest applied for the necessary BLM Right-of-Way in 2007. The BLM and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) jointly conducted an extensive environmental analysis that culminated in the publication of a Final Environmental Impact Statement on April 30, 2015. BLM and WAPA issued Records of Decision (RODs) on December 13, 2016 and January 17, 2017, respectively, selecting the route for the Project. In compliance with the BLM ROD, TransWest is now in the process of developing segment- specific Plans of Development (PODs) for approval by various BLM field offices. The segment- specific PODs will establish the final Project design as well as processes and procedures for environmental compliance with the ROD in each segment of the Project. The BLM’s Wyoming State Office and Rawlins Field Office will be responsible for reviewing and approving the POD for Wyoming. J. Project Schedule Construction of the Wyoming segment of the Transmission Line and the Northern Terminal will proceed independently. With respect to the Transmission Line, TransWest expects that construction will start in 2020 and will take about 18 months during 2020 and 2021, including four months with little or no activity over the winter. With respect to the Northern Terminal, TransWest expects that construction will proceed in two stages. In Stage 1, TransWest will build a fully operational terminal with 1,500 MW capacity, as well as the ground electrode and converter station. In Stage 2, TransWest will upgrade the terminal’s capacity to 3,000 MW. Stage 1 construction will start about three to six months after the Transmission Line construction starts and will take about three years. Stage 2 construction will start up to three years after the completion of Stage 1. TransWest expects that construction of the entire Wyoming segment of the TWE Project will take about six years. A more detailed summary of the anticipated construction schedule is attached as Exhibit 6. 3 F - 0009 K. Project Cost Estimate TransWest estimates that the Wyoming components of the TWE Project will cost $1,188,000,000, easily exceeding the Section 109 jurisdictional threshold. Further details about the TWE Project cost estimate are attached as Exhibit 7. L. Project Legal Description A legal description of the proposed Wyoming segment of the TWE Project is attached as Exhibit 8. M. Physical Location for Receipt of Materials Materials will be received at staging sites in unincorporated Carbon and Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming. N. Project Phases TransWest does not plan future phases for the TWE Project. O. Anticipated Application Delivery Date TransWest anticipates submitting a Section 109 Application in October, 2018. P. Water Uses, Volume, and Supply The TWE Project will require water both during construction and for operations. During construction, water will be needed to control dust generated by grading, road building, and site work; and to make concrete foundations for buildings and transmission towers. TransWest estimates that it will use about 48 acre feet of water for construction. During operations, water will be needed in the Northern Terminal office facilities and for HVDC evaporative cooling and misting systems. TransWest estimates that it will need about one acre-foot for operations. TransWest will procure the required water supply through water use agreements with landowners holding existing water rights, from commercial sources, and/or from municipal sources. TransWest will utilize existing water rights and no there will be no new depletions. Q. County Land Use Permits The TWE Project will require a Conditional Use Permit from Carbon County, and a Zoning Permit for Construction or Alteration from Sweetwater County. TransWest expects to apply for both permits within the next three months. 4 F - 0010 R. Socio-Economic Data and Recommended Study Area With the help of an economist, Ron Dutton of Sammons/Dutton Economics, TransWest has performed an initial assessment of the areas in Wyoming likely to be affected by the TWE Project. For purposes of the jurisdictional meeting, that assessment focused on the housing needs of the Project’s work force. A summary of Mr. Dutton’s assessment and findings is attached as Exhibit 9. As further explained in Exhibit 9, TransWest recommends that the ISD consider defining a Study Area located in Carbon and Sweetwater Counties. S. DEQ Air Quality Permit Air emissions from Project construction and operation will be subject to the WDEQ – Air Quality Division Standards and Regulations, and specifically, the permitting requirements set forth in Chapter 6 of these regulations. TransWest anticipates using portable batch plants to make concrete during Project construction, which will require an operating permit, with emissions limitation, issued by the State of Wyoming. The construction contractor(s) will obtain all necessary air quality permits required during the construction process. TransWest does not anticipate needing any air quality permits to operate the transmission system.