Tooele County needs more power to build its industrial base, but it's hard to find anyone --- save Rocky Mountain Power officials -- who favors the alignment of a proposed high-voltage line that would skirt Tooele City's south and east boundaries.
The issue is blistering hot in this community on the edge of Utah's west desert. The next chapter in the story could be written at a Tooele County Planning Commission meeting Wednesday , when power company officials will continue to seek a conditional use permit for the proposed Mona-Oquirrh line.
The line would bring 500 kilo-volts from Juab County north to a substation south of the Tooele Army Depot. From there, a 345 kilo-volt line would run east over the Oquirrh Mountains into Salt Lake County. It would be the first major addition to the area's power grid in 20 years -- a period in which electricity use has risen 26 percent, according to Rocky Mountain Power officials.
But residents and some Tooele officials have strongly opposed the alignment, citing its proximity to houses and water supplies. They also don't like the aesthetic impact on the mountains east of town.
"We aren't saying do away with the [proposed] transmission line," said Brad Pratt, who along with his wife, Kaye, heads up the Tooele Concerned Citizens Group. "We're saying this route is bad for the community."
At a February planning commission public hearing, some 200 residents showed up to protest the proposed Mona-Oquirrh alignment.
Pratt's group, among others, favors an alternative route that would take the line north along the western edge of Tooele Valley and then parallel Interstate 80 east into the Salt Lake Valley.
"We have such a large county with a lot of vacant land," said Kaye Pratt. "Where they want to put this is where the people live and on our green area."
The alternative route, however, would be much more expensive to build, said Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Dave Eskelsen. It would be longer, and more difficult to build because of the quality of soil along the I-80 corridor.
The proposed alignment to the south and east of Tooele is the result of two years of study, he said.
Building high-power transmission lines is "always a controversial process because there are always people who would like to see it elsewhere," Eskelsen said. "The main reason for this alignment is for the general growth of electrical service to Salt Lake and Tooele counties."
The planning commission may again table the proposal if it doesn't have enough information on how to mitigate impacts of the line, said Commissioner Joy Clegg.
Among other things, she is concerned about potential health impacts. The commission is seeking more data on medical issues related to high-voltage lines, she said.
Beyond public criticism of Rocky Mountain Power's preferred alignment, the planning commission has received letters of protest from the mayors of Tooele and Grantsville.
"I haven't heard one person speak in favor of it," Clegg noted. "I've never seen unification like this. It's unprecedented.
Nonetheless, most Tooele County residents recognize the area needs more electricity.
Nicole Cline, the county's economic development director, recently advised the county's economic development advisory committee that Tooele County will miss out on attracting new industry if its power base isn't significantly increased.
Although she would not comment on where the proposed line should be placed, Cline said the significant addition of power would be a "boon to attract companies."
If the Planning Commission denies the conditional use permit, Rocky Mountain Power could appeal through the Electric Facility Siting Board Act, where a panel would seek a solution through arbitration.
