Answers to keep you in the know.
Think of this as your go-to guide for common issues regarding The Columbia Electric Transmission Line Project. If you have questions that we haven’t addressed, please submit them on the Contact page or call our toll-free information line at 844-244-7870 and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
A City Council Work Session was held on May 16, 2016. At this meeting, Columbia Water & Light staff were directed by City Council to research a new transmission line route proposed by Mayor Brian Treece. Further advancement of the project continues to be on hold.
The Columbia City Council voted 4-3 against building transmission lines according to the previously approved Option A route. Work on the Option A route has stopped and the transmission line project is on hold until further direction from City Council.
The need for a new substation and new transmission lines in Columbia was identified in 2007 during an electric reliability assessment required by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The assessment identified scenarios that could cause electric reliability issues in the region due to potential cascading outages. Even though the electric load growth has declined in recent years, there is still an identified need. Electric load growth still needs to be addressed and federal electric system reliability standards must be met.
-Electric systems must have reserved capacity for times of high loads and/or problems with the system. Even though the summer of 2015 was cooler than most, two substations are currently exceeding the recommended threshold for substation electric load capacity.
-The University of Missouri has power delivered through the Columbia transmission system. They are requesting additional electric capacity starting in 2021.
-To meet NERC reliability standards, additional transmission lines must be added to address first contingency problems that could occur.
-The community, through the City Council, must decide how many second contingency problems the electric system can handle before two problems at one time lead to rolling blackouts.
You can look for more updates on City Council action for this project on Como.gov.
As part of The Columbia Electric Transmission Line Project, existing distribution lines along the route will be buried underground. This will eliminate approximately 240 poles along the route and decrease electric line clutter. New transmission lines will be constructed along the route on new pole structures. To see a before and after representation of the Scott Blvd., Vawter School Rd./Nifong Blvd., and Grindstone Parkway route segments click here.
The poles will have a concrete foundation and consist of a single steel pole. Single-circuit poles have arms from which to hang the wires (electrical line). Arm lengths are determined with the intent to minimize the required property easements by hanging over public right-of-way, while maintaining aesthetic appeal. Double-circuit poles include electrical wires that are suspended from a braced post insulator that is angled off the pole. Proposed pole structure designs may be viewed on the Open House page of this website.
Steel poles are needed due to the amount of kilovolts of electricity carried through the line. Height and span lengths are determined to maximize the spacing between poles, which will reduce the total number of poles needed. Height variations are based on elevation changes, proximity to the road, obstacles on the ground and aerial obstacles. Diameter variations of the foundation are based on line angle, structure height, span length, terrain variance and subsurface soil properties.
The entire City of Columbia will benefit from this project, since electrical upgrades are interconnected and work as one collective system to deliver reliable electricity to Columbia. Businesses and residents along the route will be impacted more during the construction process than those in other parts of town.
Every effort will be made to place poles in the public right-of-ways. There will be areas along the right-of-way where the ground is not stable enough for an electrical pole, and an easement agreement will need to be created with the property owner. View the pole placement map for greater detail on where the poles have been placed preliminarily.
Every effort will be made to keep any type of work needed in the public right-of-way. However, this might require some staging near or on your property. We do our best to notify property owners along the route when work will be occurring. For updates on the project, visit this website often, submit a question on the contact page of the website, or call The Columbia Electric Transmission Project Information Line at 844-244-7870.
A contractor for Columbia Water & Light will photograph the property along the electric transmission route before the construction project begins. It is the City’s intent to make all reasonable efforts to restore property to the same condition it was before the construction started subject to any terms or provisions set forth in existing easements, existing right-of-way descriptions, new easements and/or temporary construction easements.
Boone Electric Cooperative’s customers will not be impacted by the cost of this project. There could be some Boone Electric Cooperative distribution lines buried along the route, and depending on where you live along the route, there may be construction near you. Check this website for more information and updates on the project, particularly once the construction phase begins.
Columbia Water & Light (CWL) electric system improvements are paid through customers’ rates, not taxes. Generally, expensive capital projects are paid through bonds; this method of financing spreads the cost over time and ensures future users of the system help pay for the projects from which they benefit.
Historically voters are asked to approve bond financing every 5 years. Borrowing money to pay for large-scale capital improvement projects spreads the cost of the projects over time so current and future users of the system pay for the improvements.
On April 7, 2015, a City election was held and voters said yes to a $63.1 million bond, of which $36.1 million of the bond funds were allocated specifically to The Columbia Electric Transmission Line Project. CWL electric customers will see a total 6% increase over a five-year period: 3% in 2015, 2% in 2017 and 1% in 2018. Taxes will not be impacted. The costs break down is as follows:
| Transmission & Substation Project Total | 36,150,000 |
| Mill Creek 161/69 kV Substation | 5,000,000 |
| Mill Creek, Grindstone & Perche Interconnection | 18,000,000 |
| Grindstone & Perche Substation Upgrades | 1,000,000 |
| Underground Distribution Lines in Transmission Corridor | 5,000,000 |
| Substation Feeder Reconfiguration | 7,150,000 |
The Columbia Electric Transmission Line Project is a multi-phase project that ensures Columbians will have safe, reliable electricity. Columbia must upgrade its electrical system, per federal guidelines and mandates. The project includes adding a substation, distribution and transmission lines, primarily in the southern section of the city.
Transmission lines in the southern part of Columbia are being built to reliably deliver electricity and meet federal standards.
The electric distribution lines will be buried. This will clean up a lot of distribution lines that are currently overhead. Columbia has required that all new distribution lines be buried for many years so the majority of these lines in Columbia are underground.
Due to the high voltage of the electricity the lines carry, it is much more involved to bury transmission lines than it is distribution lines. When consideration as to whether transmission lines would be overhead or buried, several factors were taken into consideration, such as: safely delivering electricity to Columbians, as well as ongoing maintenance of the lines, ground space and costs.
The existing substations in Columbia are very close to being used at full capacity.
The entire city benefits from this project and any upgrades made to Columbia’s electrical system. The electrical grid throughout Columbia works like a buddy system to support and lighten the electrical load at any given point in time. This minimizes potential problems on any of the transmission lines that could cause outages anywhere in the city. Additionally, Columbia imports around 90% of our power from other places in the region and transmission lines connect us to those resources.
A public right-of-way is a physical piece of land adjacent to your property that is owned by the city or other public entity and can be used for various public purposes.
An easement is a lasting agreement for one party to utilize a piece of land owned by another party for a specific purpose. Many easements are already established, but sometimes the city or other utilities will acquire additional easements in order to carry out different projects and services. However, the use of the land is limited, and the original property owner retains legal title of the land.
Common examples of an easement include: an extended path or driveway that crosses through another person’s property, or access for maintaining and servicing a variety of utilities including transmission lines, sewer lines, gas lines and telecommunications lines.
Project milestones can be seen on the Timeline page of this website. For additional project history, visit GoColumbiaMO.com.
Columbians may go to the Contact page on this website to submit a question, or call The Columbia Electric Transmission Project Information Line at 844-244-7870.
Generally electricity is sent from where it is generated through high-voltage transmission lines to a substation. The voltage is lowered and it is sent through the distribution system. From there, a service line takes it to your home.
The electric system is interconnected so a problem can be isolated and power can be rerouted from another area of town to minimize the impact of outages.
Transmission lines are not usually buried since the high voltage of the electricity makes it very difficult and expensive. Columbia has required that all new distribution lines be buried for many years so the majority of these lines in Columbia are underground. There are still some overhead distribution lines in the older sections of town.
Electric transmission lines carry a large amount of electricity from where it is generated at a power plant to a substation. At the substation the voltage is stepped down so it can be delivered to customers through the distribution system.
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations increase voltage to send large amounts of power over transmission lines. Substations can also decrease the voltage of the electricity to send it through the distribution system.
An electrical grid (also referred to as an electricity grid or electric grid) is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers.
A kilovolt is a unit of electromotive force, equal to 1,000 volts.
The difference in electrical potential between any two conductors, or between a conductor and ground. It is a measure of the electric energy between the two conductors.
Electric and magnetic fields (EMF) are generated by the flow of electrons. Electric fields are established between points of different voltages. Magnetic fields are generated by electrons flowing in a conductor.
Electric and magnetic fields are present everywhere in our environment but are invisible to the human eye. While EMFs are produced by transmission lines, they also exist naturally and in many other human-made objects in our daily lives. EMFs can be found in our homes in common appliances such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, alarm clocks, televisions, and even our cell phones.
Yes, health and safety are a foremost concern for all parties. Information about electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) was reviewed with Columbia residents at each of the public meetings and with the City Council on several occasions. It was also discussed during the City Council public hearing when the route was selected.
Electric and magnetic fields can be measured with a special meter. Exposure levels vary from individual to individual, from home to home, and from business to business. For transmission lines specifically, EMFs are the strongest directly under the lines and drop dramatically the farther away you move.
EMFs decrease in strength with distance from the source. A person standing over an underground transmission line would be exposed to stronger EMFs than if the transmission line were high up in the air.
Because much of the work will take place in the public right-of-way, there is already a great deal of planning and regulation in place to ensure that the environment (creeks, trees, wildlife areas) is not disturbed. The laws for controlling run-off and erosion will be followed.
The transmission lines need to be added to meet the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) reliability standards. They are a not-for-profit international regulatory authority whose mission is to assure the reliability of the bulk power system on our continent.