Palo Duro Canyon, located just south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle, is a uniquely beautiful canyon full of rich colors and scenic views. Often referred to as the "Grand Canyon of Texas," it is the second largest canyon in the United States, second only to the Grand Canyon, and is, without question, one of the most striking landscapes in the country.
Sharyland Utilities, a Dallas-based utility company led by Hunter Hunt, has recently submitted 5 of 12 route alternatives in their CCN application for a high-voltage 345kV transmission line, filed under PUCT Docket 38290, which cut straight across the northernmost tip of the canyon (hereinafter, the "North Palo Duro Canyon"), an eight-mile stretch of strikingly beautiful private canyon located twelve miles south of Amarillo and just north of the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
Sharyland's designated "preferred route" in their CCN does not cross the North Palo Duro Canyon. However, the SOAH judge assigned to the case warned that Sharyland's designation of a "preferred route" carries no significance in the decision-making process. The judge stressed that any proposed route or combination of properly noticed proposed routes may be chosen. (See Item 21, Docket 38290.)
PBS&J, Sharyland's routing consultant, filed testimony in the docket that they prefer Route 5 across the North Palo Duro Canyon out of the 12 alternatives. (See Item 4, Docket 38290.) PBS&J claims that Route 5 across the north canyon "is its preferred route strictly from an environmental and land usage perspective." (See Item 55, Docket 38290.) Clearly, they continue to deny the environmental and other value of the Palo Duro Canyon, as well as the impacts of crossing the canyon with a power line of this nature.
Landowners were first notified by Sharyland about proposed routes across the North Palo Duro Canyon on August 7, 2009, when Sharyland Utilities and PBS&J sent out the first round of notices to the owners of land over which one or more of the proposed routes cross. A second round of notices was mailed in November, which included two more route options. The lines are to be constructed as part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) process and will connect wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the ERCOT grid to supply energy to areas such as Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. The Texas Panhandle will not be served by these lines.
The line affecting the North Palo Duro Canyon in Randall County will run from a proposed station in Carson County to a proposed station in Deaf Smith County. The proposed station in Deaf Smith County was, at one time, considered for the Buffalo Lake region in Randall County, but was moved to Deaf Smith due to environmental concerns. Numerous environmental concerns exist in regard to crossing the Palo Duro Canyon with transmission lines too, however, and have been expressed by public officials in Deaf Smith County. (See Deaf Smith County News Article dated 07/19/09.)
In addition to environmental concerns, a transmission line of this nature—which will have monstrous 125-foot-tall metal lattice towers cutting across a 175-foot-wide swath of cleared landscape—will destroy the canyon terrain, the historical and scenic value of the canyon, and will also put the wildlife and vegetation at risk from fires in the canyon which cannot be extinguished or contained. Low-flying aircraft that frequent the canyon will be in danger of collision with the lines. Given these and other numerous concerns, it is unclear why Sharyland Utilities and PBS&J directed the proposed line routes across the canyon, especially since the entire canyon can easily be avoided! (See Maps of Proposed Line Routes and PUCT - TSP Line Map.)
The original study area for the lines included the Palo Duro Canyon State Park and north Palo Duro Canyon, with very little area north of the canyon included. (Original Study Area Map .)
According to Sharyland, the TSP line map (PUCT - TSP Line Map) that guided their decision on where to locate the alternative routes was drawn by ERCOT and approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) based on plans by wind developers to build certain wind farms in the area. (See Canyon News Article.)
Wind farms in the planning stages in the area that have been announced include the Palo Duro Wind Farm, which contains 25,000 acres running just west of the breaks along the length of the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The two line route alternatives that go into and cross the North Palo Duro Canyon pass through the Palo Duro Wind Farm area. (See Deaf Smith County News Article dated 05/10/09 and Higher Power Energy - Projects.) Higher Power Energy has recently failed to come up with the commitment money to build its wind farms, however. (See Dallas Business Journal 7/02/10 - Power companies step in to propel wind project; and also see, PUCT Docket 37567).
The landowners along the north Palo Duro Canyon strongly oppose the transmission line crossing the canyon and have made their opposition known. In response, Sharyland has indicated on multiple occasions that they will use eminent domain to forcibly take the property if the route is ultimately chosen.
The links of the proposed routes that actually cross the canyon, Link V and Link AA, are located on two of the most spectacular points of the north canyon. The points were chosen by Sharyland because they claim the distance to the opposite rim across the two points is about 1,000 feet, and they claim, therefore, that they will not have to go into the canyon. In truth, from the upper caprock rim of the canyon on these points, the distance is at least 3,200 feet to the opposite caprock rim along Link V. The 500-foot-deep canyon then drops gradually down from an elevation of about 3,500 feet at the upper caprock rim to a lower interior sandstone rim elevation in the middle of the canyon of about 3,312 feet. This internal sandstone rim overlooks the lowest canyon level that has the deepest elevation of around 3,000 to 3,100 feet. This particular feature is what makes these points so beautiful as they extend down into the canyon midway and provide a view all the way up and down the canyon. From the edges of the lower internal sandstone cliffs, there is still a minimum distance of 1,800 to 2,000 feet to reach the opposite rim.
Below are pictures of the points where the respective Links would be located: the first, looking North toward Link AA; the second, looking South toward Link AA; the third, looking West toward Link V; and, the fourth, looking East toward Link V.
The views are in one word—breathtaking.
Link AA North
Link AA South
Link V West
Link V East
The above views will be permanently lost if one of the canyon routes is ultimately chosen. Historic views of the Texas plains near the Palo Duro Canyon State Park will also be permanently lost. Instead of seeing the beautiful Texas landscape, visitors will be forced to drive under the line as they approach the park and, while exiting, they will see the huge steel lattice towers obstructing the views of the horizon and the sunset. Onlookers along the North Palo Duro Canyon will also be able to see the lines dropping down into and crossing the canyon, complete with bright colored balls.
Many other serious issues exist regarding the proposed Panhandle CREZ high-voltage transmission lines. Please browse the other topics on this site for a more complete understanding of these concerns and please join us in our fight to keep Sharyland Utilities from destroying this canyon.
