PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Precinct 4 County Commissioner Jack B. Cox, left, talks with Oncor representative Larry Reiter about projected electric transmission lines during a public hearing about possible routes through Lampasas County. Electric lines designed to bring wind-generated power from West Texas to more populated parts of the state may follow one of several routes through Lampasas County.

Representatives from Oncor Electric Delivery Co., Oncor's environmental consultant, URS, and Oncor contractor JS Land Services held a come-and-go public hearing recently at Lampasas Middle School to address questions about possible routes.

Possible route segments in Lampasas County include stretches of electric lines running southeast from the Lometa area to the north side of Lampasas, and a section running between U.S. Highway 190 and Farm-to-Market Road 580 East from Lampasas to Kempner.

Other possibilities include a route from eastern San Saba County to Lometa and two possible routes to cross FM 581 in northern Lampasas County before proceeding southeast to cross U.S. 281 en route to Lampasas and Kempner.

Lines are projected to terminate in Lampasas County at the proposed Newton Switching Station, which would be located in a field near the western edge of Kempner, close to the intersection of U.S. 190 and FM 2313.

The 345-kilovolt tangent double-circuit "V" towers to be constructed will be 120 to 130 feet tall, Oncor spokesman Catherine Cuellar said.

The recent public meeting -- during which questionnaires about the proposed routes were offered to those in attendance -- was designed to let property owners share their ideas and concerns about possible routes.

"The more information we can get from the questionnaires tonight the better we can address people's concerns initially," Ms. Cuellar said.

In developing preferred and alternative routes, Oncor staff, according to information provided at the open house, will consider habitable structures within 500 feet of the center line of electric transmission line right of ways. Staff also will take into account environmental effects, AM and FM radio transmitters, microwave radio stations, private airstrips, airport runways longer than 3,200 feet, irrigation systems, and parks and recreation areas and historical/ archeological areas within 1,000 feet of the right of way center line.

City Manager Michael Stoldt, Mayor Pro Tem Les Gerhardt and Airport Manager Micky Tower expressed concerns at the meeting that building electric lines to the south of Lampasas Municipal Airport could hinder growth -- including possible runway extensions -- at the facility.

In response to state legislation passed in 2005, the Public Utility Commission of Texas designated several areas of the state as Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, where wind power will be harnessed to meet the legislative mandate for the state's renewable energy use. The transmission lines expected to pass through Lampasas County are part of an approximately 80-mile project that will connect the Brown Switching Station in southwestern Brown County to the Newton Switching Station.

The Brown-to-Newton lines will help transmit through the state's electric grid power generated by West Texas wind turbines.

After selecting preferred and alternate routes, Oncor will prepare an environmental assessment report.

The company then will submit to the PUC a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity application for the project, probably in September or October.

Notices then will be sent to affected governmental entities, property owners whose land would be crossed by an alternative route and property owners with a habitable structure within 500 feet of an alternate route.

A 45-day intervention period will allow the public to dispute recommended routes. An administrative law judge then will hear testimony and issue to the PUC a proposed final order for transmission lines. Final decision-making authority for the project rests with the PUC, which may approve or deny the project or grant partial approval.

If the PUC approves Oncor's application, construction could begin as early as 2010. The company anticipates that lines will be in service by July 2012.