Path 15

{{Expert-subject-multiple|Energy|California|date=February 2009}} [[File:Single-circuit PGE 500 kV power line.JPG|thumb|220px|[[PG&E]] 500 kV line about to cross [[Interstate 80 (California)|Interstate 80]] as it leaves the Vaca-Dixon [[Electrical substation|substation]] located just north of I-80 near [[Vacaville]]. The 230 kV line (smaller tower) crosses I-80 as well after leaving the substation. This section of the transmission line between the Table Mountain Substation (near [[Oroville, California|Oroville]]) and the Tesla Substation (near [[Tracy, California|Tracy]]) is one of the two PG&E 500 kV lines. The lines often run together (see below map), but in this area they are split apart. The other 500 kV line crosses I-80 east of [[Davis, California|Davis]].]] '''Path 15''' is an {{convert|84|mi|km|adj=on}} portion of the north-south [[electric power transmission|power transmission corridor]] in [[California]], U.S. It forms a part of the [[Pacific AC Intertie]] and the [[California-Oregon Transmission Project]]. Path 15, along with the [[Pacific DC Intertie]] running far to the east, forms an important transmission interconnection with the [[hydroelectric plants]] to the north and the fossil fuel plants to the south. Most of the three [[Alternating Current|AC]] 500 [[volt|kV]] lines were built by [[Pacific Gas and Electric]] (PG&E) south of Tesla substation. Path 15 consists of two lines at 500 kV and four lines at 230 kV. The 500 kV lines connect Los Banos to Gates and Los Banos to Midway. All four 230 kV lines have Gates at one end with the other ends at Panoche #1, Panoche #2, Gregg, and McCall. There are only two connecting PG&E lines north of Tracy [[Electrical substation|substation]] that connect Path 15 to Path 66 at the [[Round Mountain, California|Round Mountain]] substation. The third line between Los Banos and Gates substation, south of Tracy, is operated by the [[Western Area Power Administration]] (WAPA), a division of the [[United States Department of Energy]]. This line was constructed away from the other two lines and is often out of sight. Most of the time the lines are in California's Sierra foothills and the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]], but there are some PG&E lines that come from [[power plants]] along the shores of the [[Pacific Ocean]] and cross the [[California Coast Ranges]] and connect with the intertie. The [[Diablo Canyon Power Plant]] and the [[Moss Landing Power Plant]] are two examples. ==The route== The route is generally {{convert|3|to|7|mi|km}} west of Interstate 5 from the Los Banos substation, west of [[Los Banos, California|Los Banos]], to the Midway substation, near [[Buttonwillow, California|Buttonwillow]]. Connecting wires to Path 15 - Round Mountain to Los Banos substation The two connecting PG&E [[electrical power transmission|power lines]] start at Round Mountain [[Electrical substation|substation]] at [[Round Mountain, California|Round Mountain]]. The parallel [[PacifiCorp]] and PG&E lines north of Round Mountain are considered to be Path 66, not Path 15. These connecting wires to Path 15 will consist of two 500 kV lines until south of Tracy. Heading south, the lines run through the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada mountains towards Table Mountain Substation, northwest of [[Oroville, California|Oroville]]. The lines head southeast from Table Mountain Substation; near the [[Sutter Buttes]] the two lines separate. One line heads almost due south, passing to the west of [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] and east of [[Davis, California|Davis]]. The other line continues southwest for some distance and then turns south and enters the Vaca-Dixon Substation along [[Interstate 505 (California)|Interstate 505]]. The Vaca-Dixon substation was the world's largest substation at the time of its inauguration in 1922. Just north of the [[Sacramento River]] and the city of [[Antioch, California|Antioch]] the two lines rejoin and head in a south-southeasterly direction. The two PG&E lines span across both the Sacramento and [[San Joaquin River]]s on massive pylons along with the lone 500 kV Western Area Power Administration Path 66 wire. Western's Path 66 wire then turns east and runs parallel to the two PG&E wires to the west as all three wires head southeast. Both PG&E wires run to the west of the [[Clifton Court Forebay]] and cross [[Interstate 580 (California)|Interstate 580]] before entering the Tesla substation west of [[Tracy, California|Tracy]]. Leaving the Tesla Substation, one PG&E line heads southwest and two parallel PG&E lines continue in a south-southeasterly direction along the eastern [[foothills]] of the [[Diablo Range]] and the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. Only one of the two parallel lines heading southeast connects with Path 15, since one line serves as a connector to WAPA's Tracy Substation. This connector line abruptly turns north when a rare, tall dual-circuit WAPA line meets the two PG&E lines. The same dual-circuit line carries the third 500 kV line that joins the lone southeastward PG&E line. South of this point is where the 500 kV transmission system consists of three lines, not two. Despite being located in the eastern [[foothills]] of the [[Diablo Range]], the two eastern lines cross a body of [[water]] - the O'Neill Forebay of the massive [[San Luis Reservoir]] (just to the east of the [[San Luis Dam]]) on several artificial [[island]]s. The lone southwestward 500 kV PG&E line crosses the Diablo Ridge, rising to 808 m (2,650 feet) near [[Mount Hamilton, California|Mount Hamilton]]. The same line then heads into the Metcalf substation near [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] and the [[Metcalf Energy Center]]. Leaving Metcalf substation, the line crosses the southern [[Santa Cruz Mountains]] with a 230 kV line and enters the large Moss Landing Power Plant substation in [[Moss Landing, California|Moss Landing]]. The same line then heads east to rejoin the parallel PG&E lines at the Los Banos substation, effectively forming a 500 kV loop. Path 15 - Los Banos to Midway substation South of the Los Banos substation, the three lines (two PG&E and one WAPA) continue to head southeast, with the lone WAPA wire running to the west of the two parallel PG&E wires. The lines regroup as they enter the Gates Substation near [[Coalinga, California|Coalinga]]. The Los Banos-Gates third 500 kV line is the only WAPA-built section of 500 kV wire in Path 15 and the third WAPA 500 kV line is also the only line with triple-bundled wires in Path 15. Exiting the Gates substation, two parallel PG&E lines continue heading southeastward and one line heads southwest with a 230 kV line. This 500 kV line once again crosses the Diablo Range as it heads towards the [[Pacific Ocean]]. The line crosses Highway 101 in [[Atascadero, California|Atascadero]] and [[California State Route 1|Highway 1]] near [[Morro Bay, California|Morro Bay]]. After crossing some rugged coastal hills, the line enters the Diablo Canyon Power Plant substation. Due to the massive amount of power generated by the plant, a second 500 kV line was built alongside the first, as the parallel lines head east to form another 500 kV loop. These parallel wires cross Highway 101 north of [[Pismo Beach, California|Pismo Beach]] and traverse over some southern coastal mountains. After reaching a height of over 1,200 m or 3,937 feet, the two parallel lines head down the arid foothills of the southern San Joaquin Valley and split up. The two lines rejoin just before entering the Midway Substation near [[Buttonwillow, California|Buttonwillow]]. The other two eastern lines also head into the same substation from the north. [[Southern California Edison]]'s (SCE) two [[Path 26]] wires connect to PG&E's grid at the Midway Substation. A PG&E line heading southeast from Midway substation is the third line of Path 26, not Path 15. Eventually, this line is replaced with SCE towers. ===Substations=== From north to south: Connecting power lines *Round Mountain *Table Mountain *Vaca-Dixon *Tesla *Metcalf *Moss Landing *Diablo Canyon Path 15 *Los Banos, the substation is approximately {{convert|9|mi|km}} west of [[Los Banos, California|Los Banos]] *Gates, located about {{convert|13|mi|km}} east of [[Coalinga, California|Coalinga]] *Midway, one mile (1.6 km) east of [[Buttonwillow, California|Buttonwillow]] ==Western Area Power Administration's third line north of Tracy== [[File:Dual Circuit 500kV power lines crossing I580.JPG|thumb|175px|Rare dual-circuit 500 kV tower (right) (operated by WAPA) and smaller dual-circuit 230 kV tower (left) (operated by Modesto Irrigation District), crossing [[Interstate 580 (California)|I-580]]; more pictures on [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/i-580b_ca.html West Coast Roads].]] {{Main|Path 66}} WAPA's 500 kV line starts at the Captain Jack substation well to the northeast of Round Mountain. This is the [[Western Area Power Administration]]'s (WAPA) [[Path 66]] transmission line. It also heads southwest across the Modoc Plateau and crosses [[Interstate 5 (California)|Interstate 5]] near [[Cottonwood, California|Cottonwood]] (north of [[Red Bluff]]). West of Cottonwood the line turns south and enters an [[electrical substation]] near Olinda. At Olinda, lines carrying power from [[Shasta Dam]] and other nearby [[United States Bureau of Reclamation]] facilities connect with the line. This is the end of Path 66, but WAPA's 500 kV line continues from Olinda Substation along the western edge of the Sacramento Valley. Near Antioch the line runs parallel with the two PG&E lines. All three lines cross both the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers on very large [[Transmission tower|pylons]]. The WAPA line turns away from the PG&E lines and heads for another large substation near Tracy. South of Tracy Substation, it continues as a large, dual-circuit 500 kV line that connects with the PG&E lines as they leave Tesla Substation. ==Issues== Other power lines that follow Path 15 From Tesla substation to Midway substation, a set of 230 kV wires follows the main 500 kV wires. The dual-circuit 230 kV power lines run to the east of the 500 kV wires. Most of these wires were built by PG&E. Power transmission capacity Path 15 can transmit 2,000-3,265 [[watt|MW]] of [[electric power|electrical power]] from north to south. The capacity for south to north power transmission is 4,800-5,400 MW. Parallelism of Interstate 5 (south of Tesla substation) In the section south of Tracy, the eastern two wires form an infrastructure corridor along with an [[California Aqueduct|aqueduct]] and [[Interstate 5 (California)|Interstate 5]] and provide some artificial scenery to look at, especially when they do not run in the hills west of Interstate 5. The eastern parallel PG&E lines cross Interstate 5 twice. Environmental impacts The northern part of this electrical transmission corridor (including Path 66) is visible from space and [[Google Earth]] as lines of bare, treeless ground. This is because the power lines here run through [[forest]]s of [[conifer]] [[tree]]s which appear dark green-green from space. The utility companies here have [[logging|logged]] and sometimes [[clear-cut]] the land to create a [[easement|right-of-way]] for the power lines due to the fact that a [[wildfire]] could start when an [[electrical arc]] and/or [[electrical discharge|discharge]] occurs between the wires and a tree if they come close enough to each other. ==Differences in tower design== Like Western Area Power Administration's 500 kV line, the tower design for the entire transmission system is not the same, although the difference is not as dramatic as on the WAPA line. For the PG&E line, the differences are subtle and from a casual, far away view, it looks like the towers are all the same for the entire power line. It seems to be south of the Table Mountain substation, the tower legs spread apart from the tower bridge (upper section of tower) down to the tower base and there are four [[guy wire]]s for tower stability. In contrast, the towers to the north of Table Mountain have thinner legs and look like thin sticks from far away. The weaker tower legs have two additional guy wires for stability. As for the tower bridge, the towers south of Table Mountain have five X's in between the tower legs. The towers north of Table Mountain have only four X's. In addition, the tower arms on either side of the towers have smaller steel bars inside for added strength. In the northern towers, they are positioned like [[equilateral]] [[triangle]]s, but south of Table Mountain, they are shaped like [[right triangle]]s. See below for a visual comparison. Visual reference ==History== This entire project was built in the 1970s and 1980s in order to provide California and the [[Southwest United States|Southwest]] with excess hydropower from the [[Pacific Northwest]] without actually having to construct any new power plants. Usually during the cold Pacific Northwest winters, power is sent north due to heater use. In the summer, that is the reverse, with hot, dry summers in California; many people will run air conditioners at these times. In order to do this the maximum south-to-north transmission capacity is 5,400 [[watt|MW]] for most parts, but between [[Los Banos, California|Los Banos]] substation and Gates substation, there were only two 500 kV lines. The capacity at this electricity bottleneck was only 3,900 [[Megawatt|MW]], and this was identified in the 1990s as a trouble spot, but no one acted upon it. This was one of the leading causes of the [[California electricity crisis]] in 2000-01. To remedy this problem, WAPA along with several utilities built a third 500 kV line between these two substations to eliminate this transmission constraint and raise the maximum south-to-north transmission capacity to 5,400 MW. The project was completed under budget and on time on December 21, 2004. California's [[governor]], [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] attended the commissioning ceremony at [[California Independent System Operator|California-ISO]]'s control center in [[Folsom, California|Folsom]]. ==External links== *[http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/i-005ni_ca.html Interstate 5 Pictures of Path 15] * More pictures of Path 15 from West Coast Roads [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/images005/i-005_nb_exit_337_02.jpg here], [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/i-005sn_ca.html here], and [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/i-005sl_ca.html here]. * [http://www.wapa.gov/sn/ops/transmission/path15/ Path 15 upgrade project at Wapa.gov] {{coord missing|California}} {{Power Transmission Corridors of the Western United States}}