Power lines to be built through Tooele, state board rules

TOOELE — They may have lost this round, but Tooele residents will not go down without a fight.

After a state board Monday night ordered the county to allow Rocky Mountain Power to build high-power transmission lines through the rural county, local leaders pledged the decision is not the end.

"This is the only time we've ever lost, so we're all right," said Kaye Pratt, chairwoman of the Tooele Concerned Citizens Group. "I think we all expected it. We're still playing in Rocky Mountain Power's arena. Of course, we'll appeal."

In a 36-page decision, the state Utility Facility Review Board ruled in favor of Rocky Mountain Power, saying the proposed Mona-to-Oquirrh line "is needed to provide safe, reliable, adequate and efficient service to its customers."

The line, known as the Mona to Oquirrh Transmission Corridor, is 100 miles of high-power lines that would start at Mona in Juab County and fork off to West Jordan and Salt Lake City through Tooele County.

The county has heavily protested the project — both the Planning Commission and County Commission denied Rocky Mountain Power a conditional-use permit to construct the lines in March. Rocky Mountain Power then appealed to the state-mediated Utility Facility Review Board.

Hindered by parameters defined by the Legislature, the opinion states that the board does not have the authority to rule on disputes such as the line's impact on wildlife, property values or Tooele High School's T on the hillside.

Conducting its own independent analysis of alternate routes is "a practical impossibility given the complexity of the task" and the 45-day decision period, the board said.

The board deferred to Rocky Mountain Power's expert testimony and matters related to safety, such as disturbance of the smelter site, use of Settlement Canyon Reservoir, contamination of watersheds and health risks regarding high-power lines.

"The board is saying, 'We're not going to independently evaluate anything.' They said, 'Rocky Mountain Power presented expert testimony; you didn't, so we're going with them,' " said Doug Hogan, Tooele County attorney. "What little community can afford to battle Rocky Mountain Power?"