Project Need and Why an EIS is Being Prepared
Southwest Washington and northwest Oregon, including Portland, Vancouver, Longview and surrounding suburban cities and towns, have a high concentration of industrial, commercial and residential electrical load. The power plants that serve this load and loads outside of this area include hydroelectric dams; gas, coal and nuclear plants; and more recently, wind farms. These power facilities use the electrical transmission system to get the power to the people and industries that use it.
Over the years, as power production and electrical use have grown, the transmission system in this area has become increasingly congested and has moved closer to reaching its capacity. In addition, existing firm transmission service requests and new firm transmission service requests received through BPA's 2008 Network Open Season process further increases the likelihood that the system will soon reach or exceed its capacity. Network Open Season is a yearly process that allows utilities, power generators, and power marketers to make long-term transmission service requests on BPA's transmission system. If an additional line is not built, continued congestion could raise serious reliability concerns and, possibly, could lead to power interruptions.
The proposed I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project would help respond to these existing and new requests for transmission service, help accommodate load growth and address reliability concerns.
BPA will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act to assist the agency in deciding whether to build the proposed project. If a decision is made to build a line, the information in the EIS will be used to decide which transmission line alternative would be constructed. In the EIS, BPA will identify environmental impacts that could be created by the construction, operation and maintenance of the transmission line and substations. The EIS will also propose mitigation measures that could avoid or reduce potential impacts. Impacts and any mitigation measures that would avoid or reduce impacts would be analyzed for each natural, economic and social resource. All components of the project will be addressed, including construction activities, towers, access roads, substation equipment, and operational and maintenance activities.
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I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project