Board asked to settle tiff over West Jordan substation

No one disagrees that West Jordan needs a new substation to handle a surge in electrical demand caused by new residential and commercial development.

Yet the substation's location has roiled residents, spurred a lawsuit and evoked an obscure state statute in which a five-member panel may now have the final say.

Utah Power maintains that West Jordan's refusal to identify or approve an acceptable location has compromised the utility's ability to provide "safe, reliable, adequate and efficient service to its customers."

For that reason, the utility requested that the Electrical Facility Review Board take on the issue. The board was enacted under a 1997 state statute, charged with resolving disputes between local governments and public utilities regarding the siting and construction of electrical facilities.

On Tuesday, the city of West Jordan and PacifiCorp, Utah Power's parent company, concluded two days of testimony before the board — the first time the panel has been convened. The panel has until Jan. 30 to issue a decision.

According to Carol Hunter, Utah Power's vice president of external affairs, 22 new substations have been built in Utah alone since 2002, the year Utah Power first approached West Jordan over the need for a new substation.

"In each of these other cases," Hunter said in filed testimony, "PacifiCorp has been successful in obtaining permits from municipalities allowing it to site and construct these substations in an expeditious manner."

In fact, since 2002 West Jordan has allowed a separate substation to be built at 1099 W. 7055 South.

However, the utility's push to site a second substation at 3200 W. 7000 South has met resistance, mainly because the area is an established neighborhood near two elementary schools, a park and a church.

In August, a state court judge upheld a West Jordan City Council decision to deny Utah Power a permit to build at 3200 W. 7000 South. That case is on appeal.

Steve Mecham, an attorney representing the city, said there are other possible sites in which to locate a substation, particularly at 3200 West and 7800 South, a point, according to PacifiCorp, that falls within the "critical load area."

"That was on PacifiCorp's list at some point," Mecham said. "But no one today can tell me why that was eliminated. I think that might be a site that has some possibility that the city might be willing to consider."