The proposed project is being reviewed by the CPUC under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). On August 12, 2019, the CPUC published an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the Proposed Project. This began a 30-day public review and comment period for the IS/MND. The comment period closed on September 13, 2019. Comment letters were received from 11 parties. The letters and the CPUC responses to them will be included in the Final IS/MND, along with revisions to the IS/MND, if required. The Final IS/MND will be posted on this website when available.

The project is located in San Bernardino County, California; Clark County, Nevada; the cities of Hesperia, California, and Boulder City, Nevada; the unincorporated community of Lucerne Valley in California; and the unincorporated communities of Searchlight and Laughlin in Nevada. A map is provided here. An overview of the Proposed Project is provided below.

The Proposed Project is being reviewed under both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The CPUC is the CEQA lead agency and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the NEPA lead agency, with the National Park Service (Mojave National Preserve) as a Cooperating Agency under NEPA. This website provides access to public documents and information relevant to the CEQA review processes and mitigation monitoring. The BLM project website will be linked here when it is established.

DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT

The ELM Project consists of the following major components:

• Construct 2 new 500 kV mid-line series capacitors (i.e., the proposed Newberry Springs Series Capacitor and Ludlow Series Capacitor) and associated equipment.
  
  
• Provide 2 communication paths between the series capacitor sites:
  
  
  • Install approximately 2 miles of overhead and 500 feet of underground telecommunications facilities as one path to connect the proposed series capacitors to SCE's existing communication system.
    
    
  • Install approximately 2 miles of underground telecommunications facilities as a second communication path to connect the series capacitors to SCE's existing communication system.
    
    
• Provide station light and power to the proposed series capacitors by extending and/or rerouting existing lines to create approximately 2 miles of overhead and 700 feet of underground 12 kV distribution circuits. (The new distribution poles would support overhead telecommunication facilities as well as the electric distribution lines.)
  
  
• Construct 3 new fiber optic repeater facilities (Barstow, Kelbaker, and Lanfair) within the Lugo-Mohave ROW.
  
  
• Install distribution lines for light and power at the 3 proposed fiber optic repeater sites.
  
  
• Install underground telecommunications facilities from existing transmission structures to the Barstow, Kelbaker, and Lanfair fiber optic repeater sites.
  
  
• Address 16 potential overhead clearance discrepancies at 14 locations by:
  
  
  • Relocating, replacing, or modifying existing transmission, subtransmission, and distribution facilities at approximately 12 locations along the Eldorado-Lugo, Eldorado-Mohave, and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines to address 14 of the overhead clearance discrepancies. Tower modifications would include raising 9 towers approximately 18.5 feet by inserting new lattice-steel sections in tower bodies.
    
    
  • Performing minor grading at 2 locations along the Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line to address 2 of the overhead clearance discrepancies.
    
    
• Install approximately 235 miles of optical ground wire (OPGW) (approximately 59 miles on the Eldorado-Mohave Transmission Line and approximately 173 miles on the Lugo-Mohave Transmission Line, including approximately 3 miles of underground telecommunications facilities in the vicinity of the Mohave Substation).
  
  
• Modify and strengthen the ground wire peak of existing suspension towers where OPGW splices would occur (some of these towers would also require minor modifications to the steel in the tower body).
  
  
• Install approximately 2,000 feet of underground telecommunications facilities within the existing Lugo, Mohave, and Eldorado Substations.
  
  
• Within Lugo Substation, perform modifications on the existing series capacitors and install new terminating equipment and remove 2 existing tubular steel poles (TSPs) and install 2 new TSPs on the Eldorado-Lugo and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines.
  
  
• Within the Eldorado Substation, perform modifications on the existing series capacitors and upgrade the terminal equipment on the Eldorado-Lugo 500 kV Transmission Line.
  
  
• Within the Mohave Substation, replace existing series capacitors on the Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line and install new terminal equipment on the Eldorado-Mohave and Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Lines.
  
  
• Within LADWP's McCullough Substation, replace 5 existing 500 kV 50 kA circuit breakers with 5 new 500 kV 63 kA circuit breakers.
  
  
• Install (if necessary) cathodic protection on approximately 60 miles of SoCalGas's natural gas pipelines parallel to SCE's Lugo-Mohave 500 kV Transmission Line.
  

Application Completeness Review

The CPUC determined that SCE's application was not complete as submitted on May 2, 2018, and identified the deficiencies in letters to SCE on June 1, 2018 and August 27, 2018. SCE addressed the CPUC's comments and provided responses to the individual deficiencies from July 2018 to September 2018. SCE's Application and PEA were deemed complete for review by the CPUC on October 10, 2018.

Below are links to SCE’s responses to CPUC’s completeness review questions. Each bold link goes to a group of questions/responses. Some attachments to the responses are provided separately in individual links beneath the bold link.

Questions 1 through 5
Q.02 B-3 Attachments (.zip file, right-click to download) (5.2MB)
Q.05B B-5 Supplemental Attachment 1 of 2 Newberry Capacitor (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)
Q.05B B-5 Supplemental Attachment 2 of 2 Ludlow Capacitor (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)

Questions 6 through 45
Q.12 Attachment (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)
Q.40 B-18 Attachment 1
Q.42 Q.43 (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)
Q.43 3.75 (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)

Questions 46 through 49 (9.3MB)
Q46 5.3 Air Quality Attachment I AQ and GHG Activity Assumptions and EFs (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)

Question 50
Q.50A Attachment 1 Ludlow (7.4MB)
Q.50A Attachment 2 Mohave (7.9MB)
Q.50A Attachment 3 Newberry Springs (6.5MB)

Questions 51 through 55 (5.8MB)
Q.55 Attachment 1 300-ft Mailing List (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)

Questions 56 through 57

Questions 58 through 59

Questions 60 through 65
Q.60 Bio-Hydro Survey Areas (.zip file, right-click to download) (5.7MB)
Q.63 Survey Impact Table (right-click to download; requires Microsoft Excel)

Question 67 (29.3MB)

Questions 68 through 73

COMMENTS & QUESTIONS?

If you have comments or questions regarding the project, please contact us using the CPUC's project email or voicemail, as follows: