Socorro County fights SunZia over road use
Officials, ranchers, object to power transmission line project’s path
SOCORRO — A Socorro County road ordinance put into place to discourage use by the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project is unenforceable on New Mexico state trust lands, state officials said at a recent public meeting.
New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn told The Chieftain after the meeting that roads going through State Trust lands are not in compliance with regulations. The county does not own the rights of way, he said, and his office does not recognize the roads as county roads because of it.
He echoed sentiments of Deputy Land Commissioner Laura Riley during the meeting. They said the county could purchase the easements through the New Mexico State Land Office’s Amnesty Program.
Riley said only the State Land Office had the authority to regulate the roads.
Dunn said he could not say how many miles were affected, or how much it would cost for the county to purchase the easements. State Land Office official Craig Johnson told The Chieftain it could obtain the information through an IPRA (Inspection of Public Records Act) request. The Chieftain is in the process of doing so.
Dunn said State Land Office regulations did not apply to other land along the route in the county, such as land belonging to the Bureau of Land Management or private land.
Local objections
The questions arose because Socorro County Commission Chairwoman Martha Salas and District 49 Rep. Gail Armstrong have voiced opposition to the project coming through the county.
SunZia is planning to install 515 miles of two single-circuit 500 kV electric transmission lines and substations designed to transport renewable energy from Arizona and New Mexico to customers and markets across the Southwest. Right now, the markets would be in Arizona and California, although SunZia officials insist the project could also serve customers in New Mexico. Pattern Energy is the anchor tenant for the project.
In New Mexico, the transmission line will traverse 317 miles consisting of 135 miles of federal lands, 89 miles of State Trust Lands and 93 miles of privatelyheld lands within Socorro, Sierra, Luna, Grant, and Hidalgo counties, according to the State Land Office.
Construction and maintenance access to line and tower locations will use 48 miles of existing roadways, plus 85 miles of new roads expected to be constructed, the State Land Office said. The project may utilize aerial construction techniques to minimize ground disturbance, where necessary.
Project details
The lattice steel towers will reach approximately 135 feet in height, depending on terrain. The distance between towers will be approximately 1,400 feet; however this separation will vary depending on route elevation and terrain, State Land Office officials said.
Salas and others at the meeting voiced a concern that the State Land Office supported the project. Dunn and Riley denied that the office has taken a position, but was only looking out for State Trust Land beneficiaries such as New Mexico public education.
The anticipated 40-year rightof-way for the SunZia project would likely generate $32 million for public schools and other state trust land beneficiaries, State Land Office officials said.
“That comes out to about $800,000 a year for public education,” Armstrong said. “That’s not very much at all.”
Armstrong said she understood the economic development aspect of the project, but voiced concerns about the long-term effects of the project, especially to ranchers and farmers. In addition to being the district’s state representative, she was among the property owners at the meeting.
Rancher concerns
Ranchers at the meeting voiced a variety of concerns including:
The proposed route still comes too close to homes.
The transmission lines would hurt property values, in part by spoiling pristine views.
The roads can’t handle the traffic that would be needed for construction even though SunZia officials said heavy equipment would be restricted to roads that could handle it.
Heavy traffic could endanger livestock.
SunZia Project Manager Tom Wray said construction of the project is expected to begin in the second quarter of next year, with the energy being transported to customers in 2020.
A plan of development, however, is dependent on negotiations with the counties involved for use of roads and property owners for rights-of-way use.
That might be easier said than done in Socorro County, where Salas said she opposed the project and ranchers who were present at the meeting voiced opposition to it.
SunZia officials promised to leave roads in as good or better shape once the project is completed, absolve counties of liability for the roads and construction costs, not to disrupt traffic on the roads and leave areas for emergency vehicles, officials said at the meeting.