II. Project Background

II.1 Project Description Summary

Southern California Edison (SCE) filed an application (Application Number A.04-12-007) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on December 9, 2004, for Segment 1 of the Antelope Transmission Project, also known as the Antelope-Pardee 500-kV Transmission Project (Project). The Project as originally proposed by SCE in its Application to the CPUC included a new 25.6-mile 500-kV line from SCE's Antelope Substation in the City of Lancaster to SCE's Pardee Substation in the City of Santa Clarita. The CPUC's Decision on the Project specifies a number of routing conditions on the Project. The following is a description of the Project as adopted.

The Antelope-Pardee 500-kV Transmission Project will include the construction of a new 500-kV transmission line, approximately 26.7 miles in length, between the Antelope and Pardee Substations, as well as modification of these substations to accommodate the Project. The Project will also involve removal of the existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 66-kV subtransmission line and associated hardware from the Saugus-Del Sur Utility Corridor, relocation of the 66-kV subtransmission line located near the Antelope Substation to allow for expansion of the substation, and relocation of approximately 3.5 miles of 12-kV circuit from Avenue J to Elizabeth Lake Road. The Antelope Substation will be expanded to accommodate increasing the rating of the substation from 220 kV to 500 kV. Telecommunication infrastructure associated with the transmission line will also be installed.

From the Antelope Substation, the first 1.1 miles of the Project will be constructed within a new 180-foot right-of-way (ROW) in the City of Lancaster. Within this new ROW, double-circuit 220-kV poles will be installed to carry the new line for the first 0.1 miles from the Antelope Substation. At Mile 0.1, the line will use new single-circuit 500-kV lattice steel towers. At Mile 1.1, the Project route will turn southwest and enter SCE's existing Saugus-Del Sur Utility Corridor, which will be widened from 50 to 180 feet. The Project will replace SCE's existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 66-kV line that is located within this corridor.

Upon entering the Angeles National Forest (ANF) at approximately Mile 5.7, the Project route will depart from the route of the existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 66-kV line. The Project route will be located east of the existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 line in an alignment that will proceed south, and placing the transmission line on the eastern side of Del Sur Ridge, approximately mid-slope between the ridge top and the bottom of Bouquet Canyon. The transmission line will follow this route in a new 160-foot-wide ROW for approximately 12.9 miles to a point where the route returns to the existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 line within the ANF north of Haskell Canyon Road, approximately 1.2 miles north of the southern boundary of the ANF. The EIR/EIS analysis determined that this route, referred to as the "East Mid-Slope Route" (or EIR/EIS Alternative 2), is environmentally preferable to the route proposed by SCE in the same area. The CPUC finds that the "East Mid-Slope Route" will meet Project objectives, will be feasible, and will be environmentally superior (see EIR/EIS Section D.5 - CEQA Environmentally Superior Alternative) to the portion of SCE's original route that it replaces. Overall, the "East Mid-Slope Route" will lessen impacts on visual resources, fire suppression, biological resources, cultural resources, and recreation in comparison to the portion of the Project route proposed by SCE. The "East Mid-Slope Route" and the portion of the Project it will replace are located primarily on National Forest System (NFS) lands. For this reason, the ultimate approval of this portion of the route will be the responsibility of the Forest Service through the issuance of a Special Use Authorization

At approximately Mile 18.6, where the East Mid-Slope route returns to a point along the existing Antelope-Pole Switch 74 line, the Project route will once again depart from the route originally proposed by SCE. The transmission line will proceed south for approximately 2.5 miles to the existing SCE Pardee-Vincent 500-kV ROW exiting the ANF at approximately Mile 19.9. The transmission line will then head west for approximately 0.6 miles and rejoin SCE's originally proposed route. From the point where the transmission line joins the existing SCE Pardee-Vincent transmission ROW to the terminus of the line at the Pardee Substation, the transmission line will be placed on double-circuit towers that will replace existing single-circuit towers. The EIR/EIS analysis determined this portion of the route, referred to as "Re-Routing of New Right-of-Way along Haskell Canyon" (or EIR/EIS Alternative 4), is environmentally preferable to the route proposed by SCE in the same area. The CPUC finds that the "Re-Routing of New Right-of-Way along Haskell Canyon" will meet Project objectives, will be feasible, and will be environmentally superior (see EIR/EIS Section D.5 - CEQA Environmentally Superior Alternative) to the portion of SCE's original route that it replaces. Overall, this route will avoid visual and noise impacts on the Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch, which would otherwise affect the use and function of this facility. This portion of the "Re-Routing of New Right-of-Way along Haskell Canyon" is partially located on NFS lands. For this reason, the ultimate approval of this portion of the route will be the responsibility of the Forest Service through the issuance of a Special Use Authorization.

The Project route from Haskell Canyon to Pardee Substation within the Pardee-Vincent 500-kV ROW will remain as proposed by SCE in its Application to the CPUC. The Project will continue west in the existing Pardee-Vincent 500-kV ROW and span across Haskell Canyon. At approximately Mile 24.1, the transmission line will turn in a southwesterly direction in the existing SCE ROW and continue to until it terminates at Pardee Substation.

The Project will traverse NFS lands owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Therefore, on January 11, 2005, SCE submitted a Special Use Application (SF 299) to the Forest Service for a 50-year Special Use Easement for those portions of the transmission line that will cross NFS lands. These NFS lands are located on the Santa Clara-Mojave Rivers Ranger District of the Angeles National Forest.

II.2 Project Objectives

In accordance with Decision 04-06-010, Ordering Paragraph No. 8, the CPUC ordered SCE to "...file an application seeking a certificate authorizing construction of the first phase of...transmission upgrades consistent with its 2002 [2003] conceptual study and the [Tehachapi Collaborative] study group's recommendation..." These transmission upgrades include the Antelope-Pardee 500-kV Transmission Project. Additionally, SCE's objective for the approval and implementation of the Project has two primary aspects, as follows:

1) Prevent overloading of the existing Antelope-Mesa transmission line by adding capacity between Antelope Substation and Pardee Substation.

2) Increase reliability of the SCE transmission grid by providing a new pathway to deliver power to load south of Antelope Substation from generation facilities located north of Antelope Substation.