New transmission for Pinal County facilities
Generation is often located in areas that are remote from the customer load; subsequently the electricity must be carried via power lines to the area that will use it. Currently there is available capacity in existing or planned lines that will accommodate some additional generation in Pinal County. Of course, if the SRP or Pinal County electric demand grows, that may warrant the need for new transmission facilities.
Planned projects
At the Abel site, there is no transmission required for the new generation beyond what is already planned to serve the area's energy load. However, lower-voltage lines may be needed if growth projections for the area are accurate.
Also, at the Pinal Central site no new transmission will be required to interconnect this generation facility to the transmission system. There is, independent of the Pinal Central generation, additional transmission planned for the area. Specifically, two new power lines are planned to connect into the adjacent Pinal Central Substation:
- One will provide a path for renewable energy projects from New Mexico.
- The other will link Tucson's Saguaro Substation to the Pinal Central Substation.
These projects are part of the overall Central Arizona Transmission System plan. Neither of these lines is sponsored by SRP, though SRP may be a participant. Also, additional transmission may be required between the Pinal Central area and the SRP service territory at some point in the future, however it will not be required as a part of this project. Visit www.azpower.org for more info.