PUEBLO COUNTY – Pueblo County commissioners want to hold off on the vote for a controversial Black Hills Energy transmission line.
Black Hills Energy is proposing running 39 miles of power lines from Pueblo West to Cañon City in a project called the “Cañon West Reliability Project.” Black Hills Energy said the project is needed to meet a large demand for electricity in the area.
The project requires approval from the Board of Pueblo County Commissioners in order to proceed.
People living in Pueblo West don’t want the above-ground 65-75 foot tall power poles ruining their view or impacting their property values.
Black Hills Energy maintains that running the line underground is not common in the area and is not something the company does. Representatives also expressed concern that the cost to place the line underground is greater.
Homeowners weren’t too concern about that factor. “In the second quarter of 2018 Black Hills earned $24 million in revenue in one quarter of 2018. So for them to say that burying these lines is too costly I think is a bunch of bull,” said Pueblo West resident Elizabeth Mielke.
The next meeting to discuss the transmission line will be on November 13th at 9 a.m. inside the Pueblo County Courthouse. The current plan from Black Hills Energy calls for construction to begin on the project in 2019.
