Western Area Power Administration September 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) received two requests from Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric); one to interconnect their proposed South Dakota PrairieWinds Project (Proposed Project) and one to interconnect the South Dakota Wind Partners, LLC's (Wind Partners') proposed development to Western's transmission system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service (RUS), also received a request from Basin Electric for financial assistance for the Proposed Project. RUS is a joint lead agency in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. The Proposed Project includes a 151.5-megawatt (MW) nameplate capacity wind-powered energy generation facility that would feature 101 wind turbine generators; 6,000 square-foot operations and maintenance building and fence perimeter; 64 miles of underground communication system and electrical collector lines (within the same trench); 34.5- kilovolt (kV) to 230-kV collector substation and microwave tower; 11 mile-long overhead 230-kV transmission line; temporary equipment/ material storage or lay-down areas; temporary batch plant; temporary crane walks; and 81 miles of new and/or upgraded service roads to access the facilities. Wind Partners' proposed development would include the installation of an additional seven turbines within the Crow Lake Alternative and use a portion of the other facilities described for the Proposed Project. Through an agreement between Basin Electric and Wind Partners, Basin Electric would construct, operate, and maintain the Wind Partners' proposed development. Western considered the interconnection requests under the provisions of its Open Access Transmission Service Tariff (Tariff), along with the information in the EIS and all comments received, and has made the decision to allow both of Basin Electric's requests to interconnect at Western's existing Wessington Springs Substation.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Western Area Power Administration (Western), plans to authorize a new interconnection and design, construct, own, operate, and maintain a new 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line and fiber optic cable for delivery of project use power as part of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region's (Reclamation) Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC)/California Aqueduct Intertie (Intertie) project. The Intertie, including the interconnection to Western's system and transmission line and fiber optic cable, was analyzed in a Reclamation Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with the Final EIS dated and released in November 2009. The EIS was developed in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Reclamation issued a Record of Decision (ROD) dated December 28, 2009, to proceed with the Intertie, described as its Proposed Action in the EIS. The Intertie would be located in Alameda County, California, and involves constructing and operating a pumping plant, a pipeline connection between the DMC and the California Aqueduct at Mile 7.2 of the DMC and Mile 9 of the California Aqueduct, a switchyard, access roads, and the transmission line. Reclamation served as the lead agency in the preparation of the NEPA documents for this project. Western, in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), served as a cooperating agency. Western adopted the EIS in March 2010 (DOE/EIS-0398) to meet its NEPA responsibilities for its transmission actions in support of the Intertie.