Transmission Lines
The Landowner’s Perspective
by
Roger Findley
Who Am I
• Third Generation Farmer
– My brothers and I farm about 400 acres and
run 300 head of beef cows on the original
homestead taken out of sagebrush by hand
by my father and grandfather in 1937
I am also into Renewable Energy, installing a
14 kW system in June 2010
Anybody want to buy “green tags”
• Currently I am Assoc Dean of Instruction
at Treasure Valley Community College
– Developing a Renewable Energy Program
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering OSU
• M.S. in Agriculture OSU
• Most recently, Chairman of citizens
committee IN Malheur County called
“STOP IDAHO POWER” (SIP)
Why Stop Idaho Power?
• SIP wanted Idaho Power to change the
original route of B2H through Malheur
County
• Our battle cry “Not on Exclusive Farm Use
Land in Malheur County”
How did it all start?
Scoping Meeting
• Fall (Oct) 2008 we got a mailing about a
scoping meeting on a big power line
running through our property
• My wife and I went to the meeting, learned
about the B2H 500 kV transmission line
Researched 500kV line
Had a Town Hall meeting for neighbors to
attend….over 300 people showed up
I presented the following slides which will tell
you why landowners in Malheur were
upset over the original route
Land Ownership under Line
• Proposed power line is 299 miles long
– 88% crosses PRIVATE LAND
– 11% crosses BLM
– 1% crosses OTHER
– 54 miles of this line is in Malheur County
• ALL on PRIVATE LAND
• 38 miles is zoned EXCLUSIVE FARM USE
Malheur County is over 80% federally owned
Reasons Not to Have a 500kV Line
on Farm Land
Accidents
Stray Voltage
• There have been several incidents of stray
voltage affecting cattle
• Twins Falls Dairy sued IPCo for 17Million
for stray voltage and won (2008)
Height of Equipment
• BPA’s website recommends NOT
operating equipment under power lines
higher than 14 feet for fear of ARCING
• Most modern farm equipment is higher
than 14 feet (would you like to be the
tallest person on a potato digger as it
passes under a 500 kV line?)
Sagging power lines 38 feet above
the ground
EMF Danger
• 500 kV power lines produce ElectroMagnetic Fields under them….7kV per
meter
• It can energize metal objects such as
fences, pipelines, siphons, farm equipment
• People can get shocks from touching
these objects
EMF Dangers
• Health Concerns
– Causes higher incidence of childhood cancer
– Causes higher risk of Alzheimer's disease
– Melatonin levels change in humans
• Fluorescence lights bulbs will light up by
holding them in your hands under these
lines
Would you really want your
grandkids under a 500 kV line?
Noise
• These power lines HUM constantly
24/7/365
• Interfere with cell phones, GPS units,
radios, TVs
Irrigation
•
•
•
•
How will you irrigate around the towers?
Center pivots can’t go all around the field
Wheel lines can’t go past them
Furrows will be all messed up
Ground Clearance
• When electrical current is flowing on a hot
summer day, these lines will SAG
• IPCo says lines may only be 38 feet above
ground
• Section of handline is 40 feet long
Aerial spraying
• Airplanes won’t be able to fly over or under
them applying chemicals
– Areas untreated which become “hot spots” for
pests to concentrate and spread
– Aerial GPS units get scrambled around the
EMF and won’t give accurate readings
Dust and Smoke
• Dust and smoke particles in the air makes
the air lose its insulation quality resulting in
ARCING
• Firemen have to stay 200 feet away from
500kV lines when fighting fires
Property Values
• Property values drop an average of 15 to
20% under a big transmission line
Viewshed
• Ruins a viewshed
500 kV line superimposed on
Malheur Butte
40 ft by 40 ft base 190 ft tall
OSHA
• OSHA has rules that farm workers have to
stay 100 feet away from 500 kV lines
when working
Factors to Consider for a
Transmission Line
• 1) What size line is needed?
– 69kV
138kV
230kV 500kV
Idaho Power doesn’t own a 500 kV line yet
All the power for the Treasure Valley is basically
brought in on two 230 lines
• 2) Zoning laws
– States vary on this
– The reason farm land in Idaho sells for
$15k/acre while in Oregon only $5K/acre
– Oregon has very strict zoning laws which
helped us move the B2H line
• You can’t put a transmission line over Exclusive
Farm Use land in Oregon unless there is nowhere
else to go
• 3) Be open and communicate
– With social networks on the computer, you
can’t hide anything
– Stop Idaho Power developed a blogspot
• We found IPCo was hitting the site several times a
day
– With email, I can contact 400 addresses at
once and ask for letters
• 3) continued
– There is a coalition of citizen groups that has
formed in the western states called
• “Citizens for Responsible Transmission Line Siting”
• CRTLS
• Citizens from Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana,
Nevada, California, Washington
• All sharing information and what works and what
doesn’t work
• 4) Select routes that follow exiting ROW
• 5) Use public land as much as possible
– The new proposed B2H route now goes 88%
over BLM land and only 12 % on private land
– Be aware of environmental issues on public
land
• 6) If you use an environmental consulting
group, find someone who is local and
good
Questions