Public Notice No. 5308

PUBLIC NOTICE

Pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act and the Wyoming Public Service Commission’s (Commission) Rules, notice is hereby given of the Application of Niobrara Electric Association, Inc., (Niobrara or the Cooperative) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and necessity (CPCN) to site, design, construct, operate and maintain a 6.5-mile high voltage transmission line from Podolak Substation to Kirtley Road and a 10/14 MVA Substation in Niobrara County, Wyoming.

Niobrara is a public utility as defined in Wyo. Stat. § 37-1-101(a)(vi)(C), subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 37-2-112.

On August 6, 2019, Niobrara filed its Application requesting approval of a CPCN for authority to site, design, construct, operate and maintain a 6.5-mile high voltage transmission line from Podolak Substation to Kirtley Road and a 10/14/ MVA Substation in Niobrara County (Project). The Project consists of a new 69 kV transmission line in Niobrara County ap0proximatley 1.6 miles west of Lusk, Wyoming. The proposed transmission line will be sited next to two existing transmission lines that parallel the proposed transmission line from Podolak Substation to Kirtley Road. The Project also consists of the construction of a 10/14 MVA substation (Lusk-Elk Creek) on approximately 0.51 acres on Kirtley Road northeast of Lusk.

Niobrara is proposing to build a new 69 kV transmission line to provide electrical service to a new substation to be built on the south side of Kirtley Road to provide additional electrical service to the existing ONEOK Gas Compressor Station on the north side of Kirtley Road. Niobrara states the 6.5-mile 69kV transmission line is proposed to start at the Podolak Substation west of Lusk and proceed north/northeast to Kirtley Road just west of Highway 85, where it would tie into an existing 69kV transmission line at that location. The transmission line is proposed to be built in the same general corridor as two other existing transmission lines. The line will go north for about 1.8 miles across the Niobrara River then approximately 4.7 miles northeast until it taps into the existing 69kV line at Kirtley Road just west of Highway 85.

Specifically, the Project will start in Township 32N, Range 64W, and Section 13 and proceed north through Sections 12, 6 and 1 and continue northeast into Township 33N, Range 63W, Section 31, Section 29 and 21 and terminate at Section 16 where it will join an existing 69kV line.

The estimated total cost of the proposed Project is $4.6 million. The Project will be financed entirely by ONEOK with reimbursement for the cost to be collected through a Contribution in Aid to Construction Contract between Niobrara and ONEOK. Construction is expected to begin in October 2019 with a planned in-service date of January 2020.

This is not a complete description of the Application. Interested persons may inspect the Application at Niobrara’s Wyoming business office, or at the Commission’s offices in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during regular business hours.

Anyone desiring to file a public comment, statement, intervention petition, protest or request a public hearing in this matter must so file with the Commission in writing on or before September 6, 2019. Any intervention request filed with the Commission shall set forth the grounds of the proposed intervention or request for hearing as well as the position and the interest of the petitioner in this proceeding.

If you wish to intervene in this matter or request a public hearing which you will attend and you require reasonable accommodation for a disability, call the Commission at (307) 777-7427 or write to the Commission, 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 300, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002. Communications-impaired persons may contact the Commission through Wyoming Relay at 711. Please mention Docket No. 10008-49-CN-19 (Record No. 15330) in your communications.

    Dated: August 7, 2019.
Public Notice No. 5308. Published in The Lusk Herald on August 14, August 21, 2019.