Surface-use agreements between 21 landowners and Kinder Morgan must be signed before the CO2 company can install 10 miles of new power lines west of Pleasant View, the Montezuma County commission ruled 3-0 Monday.<\/p>\n
During an hour-and-a-half public hearing, several residents and farmers expressed concerns that the lines would disrupt farming operations and cause visual blight.<\/p>\n
The board contemplated requiring the lines be buried but backed off, and approved the transmission line plan contingent on completed surface agreements with affected landowners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt weighs heavy on my mind that not all agreements have been signed,\u201d said commissioner Larry Don Suckla.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose agreements need to be in pocket to the satisfaction of the landowner,\u201d said commissioner Keenan Ertel.<\/p>\n
Kinder Morgan plans to install a private, 115-kilovolt distribution line that starts at compressor station at County Road BB and 8, runs east along County Road CC, then south and west along County Road 10.<\/p>\n
A smaller-voltage line would connect to cluster facility two miles to the southwest on CR BB.<\/p>\n
The additional lines are needed to provide power for three new cluster facilities to be built in the area. The cluster units extract water from the CO2 gas when it arrives from the wellhead. The CO2 is then sent to compression stations and into the main pipeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur design team took the least impactful route for the transmission lines,\u201d said Matt Ammerman, a Kinder Morgan facilities engineer.<\/p>\n
It was explained that the less-than-direct route to the three new cluster stations is due to a steep canyon and BLM terrain. The project borders Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which is avoided by Kinder Morgan because of more extensive, time-consuming permit requirements.<\/p>\n
KM approached Empire Electric to provide the additional power, but an agreement could not be worked out, so they decided to install the lines themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have had to pay 95 percent of construction (with Empire), and they wanted to charge us a retail rate, which is double our usual industrial rate,\u201d Ammerman said. \u201cWe went with our own plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Landowners pushed for the line to be buried. Farmers said that if it goes above ground, more accommodation is needed to keep poles out of the way of crop production.<\/p>\n
\u201cKinder Morgan has a market value of $42 billion. They can afford the costs of going underground,\u201d said resident Jo Shane. \u201cThis is an agricultural community that needs protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farmers Joe Lanier and Travis Daves said the poles need to be positioned so they don\u2019t disrupt irrigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to adjust poles to avoid my center pivot and not shorten my field,\u201d Daves said, adding that long-term plans from the company need more light of day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger picture here is that they are purchasing land to put a power plant on so they can run their own power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Lanier said it was unfair to make him cut back his field for the new lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d prefer them to go underground,\u201d he said. \u201cThey told me I had cut off my center pivot to allow for their poles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daves was critical of the private status of the new lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t have access to that power,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are multiple new wells and pipelines going in. This expansion is happening real fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Landowner Jim Farrier will have the new power line go through the middle of his property. He is urging the county to slow down and create a long-range impact study for Kinder Morgan expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very piecemeal right now. It needs a more comprehensive look so residents know what to expect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Landowner Lynn Anderson agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the economic development, but let\u2019s not burn down the house to stay warm,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s not ruin historic farm use for oil-and-gas which is temporary. When its all gone, we will be left with eyesores.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a comment letter, Sue Dusenberry was concerned about the loss of beauty in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it is too much to minimize the visual impact they will make to our scenery,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe paid extra to put lines underground on our property, so why can\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinder Morgan said designers will map out poles to avoid agricultural disruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will space the poles so they are not in the way of the pivot and pay damages for cropland disruption,\u201d Ammerman said. \u201cThe expansion might appear fragmented, but it is part of an overall development. The compression stations only work if the clusters are online and they need adequate utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The poles will be on private land, just beyond the county road 60-foot right of way. Officials stated that Kinder Morgan has legal rights for the installation of facilities on private land, such as transmission lines, to extract underground minerals they lease.<\/p>\n
Once surface-use agreements are in place, construction of the new transmission lines is expected to take 4-5 months. Kinder Morgan plans to install 18 new wells in the Cow Canyon field near Pleasant View over the next several years. So far seven have been permitted.<\/p>\n