Brazos Electric Power Cooperative is working with the city of Frisco to research more options for future power needs.

The Frisco City Council passed a resolution Sept. 3 in opposition to proposed routes down Main Street and Stonebrook Parkway in west Frisco. As a result, the wholesale power supplier has postponed submitting plans to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).

"We really just want to explore the issue before anything is filed," said Ben Brazina, assistant to the city manager, who is coordinating the city's efforts to explore other avenues. "It's all about balance. If there is truly a need, then we have to have lines they've got to come from somewhere, and you're limited now."

Opposition

Residents in established and still-developing neighborhoods expressed opposition to the transmission lines at the Sept. 3 Frisco City Council meeting for reasons ranging from potentially decreasing property values and aesthetics to fears of health and safety risks.

City officials are also concerned about line construction in Brazos Electric's original proposed routes because Main and Stonebrook will most likely be widened at a future date.

Richard Chambers, Brazos Electric's project regulatory coordinator, said they originally intended to file an application with the proposed routes to the PUCT in early October. This application is known as a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN).

"However, with the amount of information being received, Brazos Electric will need additional time to process the information and does not have a set file date," Chambers said.

Additional transmission lines were deemed necessary because a future electric shortage was identified through a study by C.H. Guernsey and Company. Data from the study, commissioned by CoServ Electric, a not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative, shows between 2002 and 2011, growth in the study area was 11.8 percent. As development continues, electricity demands are expected to grow between 5 percent and 8 percent annually.

The study indicates the area will begin to reach capacity by the end of this year, Chambers said. By 2023, the area is projected to reach a "significant" capacity shortage by as many as 14,000 homes.

Brazina said the best option is still for the city to come up with alternate routes.

Alternatives

City staff members have identified a possible southern route, but they have encountered the same issue Brazos Electric found when planning a southern route. A section of land in southwest Frisco is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The USACE in a July letter turned down Brazos Electric's request to run the line across Corps property, but Brazos Electric and the city are now revisiting possibilities with the organization.

The city met with the Corps in September.

"The Corps was receptive to some additional ideas, and if they have to review additional information, they will for us," Brazina said. "They are very open and willing to work with the city."

Brazina said the city is also asking Brazos Electric to look at routes that are outside the company's designated study area.

"It's going to be a combination of capacity, need for the electricity—it's going to be a combination of what Brazos can do, what their engineers can design and what the Corps will allow," Brazina said. "Everything is on the table. We are looking at all options here, including alternate routes from the south, west and northwest, burying some or all of the line."

The city is also exploring other possibilities, such as increasing capacity at existing substations.

The transmission lines Brazos Electric is proposing are not like the towering metal lattice structures that stretch northwest, northeast and southwest of the tollway. The proposed single-pole lines would, however, be taller than the distribution lines that already track down the south side of west Main Street, Brazina said.

Brazina said burying the lines is not out of the question. Line construction is paid for by electricity rate-payers across the state, and PUCT would ultimately decide if it is fair for all users to pay the extra expense to bury Frisco power lines.

Residents respond

A group of homeowners in west Frisco wants to have an active role in the process.

West Frisco Homeowners Coalition representative Kendall Meade said they are supportive of the city's efforts.

Brazina said the multitude of letters and calls by Frisco residents helped speed up the communication process with the USACE, a federal organization.

"To be able to get on their calendar so quickly is a testament to the amount of people that have called their congressmen and state representative," he said.