Owner/Client: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
CalPeco is proposing to upgrade its North Lake Tahoe Transmission System loop, which consists of four electrical lines that extend between the Town of Truckee, Tahoe City, and Kings Beach. The proposed project would upgrade two of these lines, CalPeco’s existing 625 and 650 electrical lines and associated substations from 60 kilovolt (kV) to 120 kV. The project contains six primary components:
- removal of the existing 625 Line and construction of a new, rerouted 625 Line
- rebuild of the existing 650 Line
- realignment of two short segments of the 650 Line and removal of the original alignments
- work on the “Northstar Tap” line connecting the 650 Line to the Northstar substation
- rebuild of a 1.6-mile long section of the existing 132 Line in Truckee
- upgrade, modification, and/or decommissioning of six substations
The project components are predominantly located on lands managed by the USFS in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and Tahoe National Forest. Portions of the project are also located in the Town of Truckee, as well as Kings Beach and Tahoe City, and on lands within the Martis Creek Lake Recreation Area. For this project, Ascent prepared a joint EIS (NEPA)/EIS (TRPA)/EIR (CEQA). Key issues included historic resources, biological resources, scenic resources, the potential for recreation conflicts, and consistency with the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan.