Tom Wray, a speaker at the marcus evans Transmission & Distribution Summit 2013, on building infrastructure to transport energy across large distances. Interview with: Tom Wray, Project Manager, SunZia Southwest Transmission Project

1. Interview with: Tom Wray, Project
Manager, SunZia Southwest
Transmission Project
“There is a trend in the US towards
renewable energy sources, but
resources are not necessarily close to
load pockets,” according to Tom Wray,
Project Manager, SunZia Southwest
Transmission Project. “Companies are
building long transmission and
distribution infrastructure to wheel
wind and solar energy across large
distances into the big cities, but many
are doing a poor job of effectively
engaging the opposition in the route
planning process. This is resulting in
litigation, delays and costs, which are
eventually passed on to consumers,” he
commented.
The SunZia Project is a proposed extra
high voltage transmission system
located between central New Mexico and
central Arizona. Wray is a speaker at
the marcus evans Transmission &
Distribution Summit 2013, in Atlanta,
Georgia, November 4-6.
What is the true potential of the
SunZia Southwest Transmission
Project?
SunZia will create capacity that does not
exist today, pooling wind and solar
resources into markets in the Western
US. Based on meteorological reports
and existing wind farms, wind resources
are over 12,000 megawatts, with
capacity factors exceeding 42 percent.
This is extremely attractive to utility
companies, particularly in Arizona and
California. In addition, this wind
availability coincides with the 4pm-7pm
peak period in California’s large load
pockets.
What is required to make such
transmission infrastructure projects
successful?
The projects must be feasible and
profitable for investors to pursue them,
with reasonable permitting timelines.
The load factor on the transmission line
should be high enough for the unit rate
to be affordable to the generator.
Transmission lines are essentially toll
roads, just transporting the product
from where it is generated to the retail
electric utility. The challenge is in
making sure the transmission is in the
right place at the right time. Long
transmission lines must be built to get
the energy from remote areas to big
cities. SunZia’s lines will be 515 miles
long, going across two states.
How could transmission companies
better manage the opposition they
encounter when constructing such
infrastructure?
Long transmission lines are very costly
and difficult to permit. Companies often
encounter a lot of opposition as people
do not really care if wind power has to
go from one state to another, if the
lines have to cross through their state.
It is critical to engage opponents early
on and often. Reach out to organi-
zations that are likely to oppose a
project and try to enlist their
involvement during early project
planning. Analyze sufficient alternatives
beforehand. Some organizations are
conflicted between being a part of the
planning process and their traditional
role of opposing a project at the end,
but today many of these organizations
are seeing the value of their early
involvement.
In our application in 2008, the SunZia
route was 475 miles long compared to
the 515 miles it is now. We had to
analyze well over 2,400 miles of
alternatives to reach a reasonable and
feasible route that avoided important
environmental resources and
maximized the usage of existing
infrastructure corridors.
However, the cost of a transmission line
is measured by its length. The industry
has to engage with the opposition in a
meaningful way and be prepared to
make reasonable changes. If the effort
is insincere, they will detect that. Listen
to their ideas and get them to
understand what you can and cannot
do. They do not work in the power
business. Preserving habitats, protecting
species and maintaining wild land places
are goals familiar to them.
The
industry has
to engage
with the
opposition in
a meaningful
way
Building Renewable Energy Transmission
Infrastructure Successfully

2. The Energy Network - marcus
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