Last edited at 1:37 p.m., April 1, 2015.With an eye on future development in western Greene County, City Utilities of Springfield has determined a new route to deliver electric power between the John Twitty Energy Center and Partnership Industrial Center West.
The 13-mile transmission route on the western edge of CU’s service territory wraps around James River Freeway, west of Highway 60, and crosses over Interstate 44, Chestnut Expressway and Division Street before connecting with an existing substation in the industrial center.
CU spokesman Joel Alexander this morning said the estimated project cost is $15 million, including property acquisitions and a new substation in the middle of the path. He said the line, with its 80-100 foot utility poles, requires 100-foot easements along the route.
According to a CU map of the plans, the 161,000-volt transmission line would travel mainly along farm roads 168, 97, 144 and 115. It enters PIC West along Westgate Avenue.
Alexander said two meetings last year resulted in initial communication with 3,000 property owners, and CU officials have twice narrowed the list of potential properties affected to the current 58. Letters detailing the current plan were mailed Friday, he said. While an estimated project completion date is not set, CU officials expect to begin property acquisitions within 60 days.
“We’re looking at several years into the future,” Alexander said. “A lot of that area is not necessarily developed. We do know there is interest in businesses and corporations that might want to move into the area and residential developments, too.”
Alexander pointed to McLane Co. Inc.’s 500,000-square-foot distribution center, which opened in 2011 in the service area.
“Other businesses may be looking at the area,” he said. “One of the first things these major players come in and look at is what you have available, transportation-wise and utility-wise.”
PIC West has nine tenants, including Executive Coach Builders, Stamina Products and NorthStar Battery, and 11 sites available for development, according to
SpringfieldRegion.com, an economic development site for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Located within an enhanced enterprise zone and adjacent to I-44 and Springfield-Branson National Airport, lots at the 400-acre master-planned industrial park are listed for $65,000 per acre.
CU is working with Oklahoma City-based Coates Field Service Inc., an authorized agent for the utility.
