PUEBLO COUNTY – Pueblo County commissioners voted down an application from Black Hills Energy seeking to run 39-miles of overhead power lines from Pueblo West to Cañon City.
Property owners in Pueblo West voiced strong opposition to the project which many worried would ruin their view or impact property values.
Following the vote by commissioners, people in the audience cheered and applauded the decision.
Last month, commissioners delayed a vote on approving the project as they wanted to gather more information from both sides of the issue. A vote is expected to happen today.
Black Hills Energy proposal for the Cañon West Reliability Project called for a 39-mile run intended to meet a large demand for electricity in the area.
The project required approval from the Board of Pueblo County Commissioners in order to proceed.
Black Hills Energy maintains that running the line underground is not common in the area and is not something the company does. Company representatives have expressed concern that the costs to place the line underground is too great.
Homeowners who spoke to News5 in October weren’t too concern about the costs to the company. “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.
