Page 356 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Ener gy Pr oduction Industries 331

and West Virginia. In March 1990, Appalachian Power announced a
major transmission reinforcement for this service area to address
a growing deficiency in its electric transmission grid. Growing cus-
tomer demand was creating a situation where the loss of a major line
during peak periods could pose a risk of transmission collapse. The
last transmission line to serve the area was built in 1973, and peak
consumption in that year was 2,720 megawatts. In 2005, the load in
this same area was 7,108 megawatts, or more than 161% greater than
the 1973 load.
Higher-voltage power lines are more efficient, since they reduce
power loss. 765 kV transmission requires less land for rights of way
than would be used for the number of lower-voltage transmission
lines necessary to carry the same amount of electricity. Specifically,
one 765-kV transmission line on a 200-foot wide right of way can
transmit electricity equivalent to the capacity of 15 138-kV double
circuit transmission lines that would need 1,500 feet of right of
way. This new line increased AEP’s national 765 kV network to
2,100 miles, more than all other U.S. electric utilities combined. AEP
pioneered 765 kV electricity transmission in the early 1960s and put
the first 765 kV line in service in 1969.
Completed in 2006 after sixteen years, the $306 million Wyoming-
Jacksons Ferry project was the largest ongoing electric transmission
infrastructure project in the United States. The design of the new line
involved a combination of route selection and technology selection.
The power line route was developed by a team of professors from
Virginia Tech and University of West Virginia with expertise in biol-
ogy, anthro pology, geographic information systems, and natural
resource management. Their goal was to determine the route with the
least impact on people and the environment. Technology, ingenuity,
public input, and a commitment to people and the environment were
combined to create the best alternative possible.
As a result of the careful route planning, only five homes were
within the final 200-foot wide right of way, only six eminent domain
proceedings were held out of 164 landowners, and only 11 miles of
federal lands were crossed. In addition, nonreflective steel and con-
ductor were used to minimize visual impacts of the project. More-
over, the company took extraordinary measures to minimize the
environmental impacts. For example:
• In the summer of 2005, a male endangered Indiana bat was
found near a county where construction was taking place. To
protect the species, construction and tree clearing activities
were suspended during the summer for a five-mile radius in
the area where the bat was found.
• Helicopter use was prevalent in transporting tower struc-
tures or tower steel to construction sites. This helped reduce