Power line proposal inspires opposition AMARILLO, TEXAS (hppr) - Haslett: On the high plains of the Texas Panhandle, the most dramatic scenery lies beneath, rather than above the horizon. Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States, sits a half hour's drive south of Amarillo. If you're a local, you might have enjoyed taking an out-of-towner down to the canyon for the first time. You might have even heard your guest say "Well, where is it?" There's not much to see as one speeds over the flat-as-a-frying-pan landscape a few miles west of the state park entrance. Suddenly, off to the right, the earth opens up. The plains drop off into cliffs, and the rusty-and-tawny-colored strata of rock layers below come into view. It's the north end of Palo Duro Canyon. It's private property, even though most of the canyon is within the large State Park.

Rogers: Between Lake Tanglewood and Palo Duro Canyon State Park there are eight miles of Palo Duro Canyon.

Haslett: That's Susan Rogers, a landowner in that area. She's an organizer for an ad-hoc group known as Protect North Palo Duro Canyon. The group formed in response to a proposal to build electricity transmission lines though that part of Randall County. Rogers says that the proposed route would be pretty hard to miss for those approaching the state park.

Rogers: They will be able to see the lines for certain, because they will have to drive underneath them. Everyone going to the park would drive under the lines that cross the canyon. Because once they cross the North Palo Duro Canyon area, they go across Highway 217, I believe, which is the road to the park.

Haslett: The proposal is one of several different options presented by Dallas-based Sharyland Utilties. The State of Texas Public Utilties Commission has contracted with Sharyland and other private firms to build transmission lines for the transport of wind-generated electricity from the Panhandle to urban markets downstate such as Dallas-Fort Worth and the Austin-San Antonio corridor. Mark Caskey is Vice President of Operations for Sharyland.

Caskey: Sharyland Utilities is proposing to build a transmission line from the Panhandle-White Deer area to just east of Hereford. And if you look at a straight line that basically puts you just between the City of Amarillo and Canyon. A straight line of that does cross the Palo Duro Canyon at a location in between there.

Haslett: The Public Utilities Commission of Texas will make the final decision regarding where the lines will go. The PUCT will review Sharyland's proposals in April. Much is undetermined, but one thing is certain- there will be power lines going from a location just south of White Deer to a location just east of Hereford. The question is- Which path will those lines take?

Caskey: Basically, what we have been asked to do is come up with an adequate number of alternative routes that take into account a very diverse set of options to get us to that point. Basically, one of those options is a straight a line as we can get from those two points. We do look at following property lines; we look at following right-of-ways that are there; we are looking for any sort of constraint that would be an issue for us for the transmission line-

Haslett: Other proposals include two routes that would avoid the canyon by taking roughly right-angle paths. One would go almost due south from White Deer into Armstrong County, then bear sharply west toward Hereford. Another route would travel west by northwest from White Deer, pass north of Amarillo, then turn south and continue toward Hereford along a path near Bushland and Wildorado. As for the diagonal route though North Palo Duro, Rogers says that she and her neighbors are unified in their opposition. This is Mark Haslett, H-P-P-R News.
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