City considers several new routes for transmission line project

While Columbia Water & Light presented two new options for a high-voltage transmission line, city council members seemed most interested in the new mayor’s proposal.

Staff held an informational work session on the long-debated project Monday night at a pre-council meeting. The city council voted in January to re-open the discussion, putting a hold on the eight-mile line of 161-kilovolt planned for south Columbia. The council approved the plan, known for years as “Option A,” in 2013 to run from Grindstone Parkway and Highway 63, to a new “Mill Creek” substation built north of Rock Bridge High School, ending at the Perche Creek substation off Scott Blvd.

Residents along that route questioned the wisdom behind putting 100-foot tall metal poles along a corridor with several homes, businesses and schools while the contractor, Sega, Inc., held public information meetings about the placement of the poles. Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nasuer asked to re-open the discussion, and faced a recall petition for her efforts. Other options for the route included building around the southwest end of town , which affected many new neighborhoods in plans called “B” and “B2.”

Water & Light staff presented two new options Monday, which kept certain parts of those plans. “Option C” retains the part from Grindstone to Mill Creek, and continues south to a substation in McBaine – a part of Option A staff sought to complete later. It then adopts a part of Option B that curls around the southwest side of town to Perche. “Option D” keeps the part from McBaine to Perche, but only adds a loop of 161-kV lines from Grindstone to Mill Creek, and back.

Mayor Brian Treece, though, said all plans seemed like “non-starters” for their impact on residential property. His plan, dubbed at the meeting “Option E,” involves working with Central Electric Co-op and Ameren to upgrade existing lines in north Columbia and the surrounding county area from 69-kV to 161-kV. Those would go around the north side of town to Perche, providing the power to that area Mayor Treece said the city needs.

“We’ve already got existing capacity around, and we no longer have to connect to Perche Creek [from the east], we can drop in from the top,” Treece told ABC 17 News.T

Treece said that campaigning for mayor taught him that people mainly wanted the line to avoid densely populated areas. Water & Light said “Option a’ provides them the best long-term solution for electric capacity, while keeping maintenance costs low due to their easy access from the public right-of-way. Treece said his plan, devised with the help of Central Electric Co-op, lets them share the cost of upgrading the already-existing system in agricultural areas.

“I think we’re rearranging components of two very controversial plans in hopes that we reach a different conclusion,” Treece said of the other city-proposed plans. ‘And that’s why I think it’s important to put a new idea on the table.”