NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13,
2007
CONTACT: Randy
Wilkerson, 720-962-7056, wilkerson@wapa.gov
Dirk
Shuland, 406-247-7402, shulund@wapa.gov
PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE MEETINGS SET FOR NEXTGEN PROJECT
LAKEWOOD, Colo.— Public scoping meetings on the proposed construction of a new coal-fueled baseload electric generation facility, related transmission lines and associated facilities in central or north-central South Dakota are set for three communities near the project between Aug. 21 and Aug. 23.
The open house meetings are part of Western Area Power Administration’s efforts to share information and receive public comments on the scope of issues it will evaluate in the NextGen Project Environmental Impact Statement.
The open-house meetings to share information, answer questions and receive comments will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.:
The open-house public scoping meetings will provide attendees the opportunity to meet one-on-one with project team members and come and go at will. All of the meeting sites are handicapped accessible.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative proposes to construct
a new 500- to 700-megawatt, baseload generation facility,
water pipeline, high-voltage transmission lines,
transmission interconnection(s) and other associated
facilities. Four sites for the generation facility
are being considered: two in the Selby area, and
one each in the Onida and Blunt areas. The
proposed project would help meet the increased demand
for electric power in the eastern portion of Basin
Electric’s service area caused by industrial
growth, energy-sector development and rural residential
growth.
Western, an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy,
is preparing an EIS because the proposed project
would interconnect with Western’s electric
transmission system.
Western invites the public to suggest specific issues and concerns, including baseload generation alternatives that should be evaluated in the EIS. Western will use the scoping process to help refine the list of alternative generation sites to determine which of them, along with the No Action Alternative, will be evaluated in detail in the EIS.
Comments on the proposed project can be submitted at one of the meetings or to NextGen NEPA Document Manager, A7400-CC, Western Area Power Administration, P.O. Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213; fax (720) 962-7263; e-mail NextGenEIS@wapa.gov; or provide comments online at http://www.wapa.gov/transmission/internextgen.htm. The public scoping comment period ends August 31, 2007. However, there will be other opportunities throughout the entire EIS process to ask questions and provide comments.
For more information, visit the NextGen Project Web site online at http://www.wapa.gov/transmission/internextgen.htm.
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Basin Electric is a regional wholesale electric generation and transmission cooperative owned and controlled by 124 member cooperatives. It serves approximately 2.5 million customers covering 430,000 square miles in portions of nine states.
Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy.
Serving the West with Federal hydropower
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