Introduction
This is an analysis for Bobwhite -Manatee transmission line location beginning at the FPL (Florida Power and Light) Manatee Energy Center in Parish running south to the site of the proposed Bobwhite station. The location was selected after evaluating 1,272 alternative routes. It offers several advantages, including a balance of community, environmental, and engineering factors, a direct route, few homes in close proximity, and avoiding schools and school sites. The route serves new customers in growing areas of Manatee and Sarasota Counties east of I-75, follows property lines or co-locates with road rights-of-way, provides a new right-of-way, crosses the Manatee River at an existing bridge, avoids environmentally sensitive lands, consolidates the new line with existing FPL distribution lines, and can be built at a reasonable cost.
This is an analysis for Bobwhite -Manatee transmission line location beginning at the FPL (Florida Power and Light) Manatee Energy Center in Parish running south to the site of the proposed Bobwhite station. The location was selected after evaluating 1,272 alternative routes. It offers several advantages, including a balance of community, environmental, and engineering factors, a direct route, few homes in close proximity, and avoiding schools and school sites. The route serves new customers in growing areas of Manatee and Sarasota Counties east of I-75, follows property lines or co-locates with road rights-of-way, provides a new right-of-way, crosses the Manatee River at an existing bridge, avoids environmentally sensitive lands, consolidates the new line with existing FPL distribution lines, and can be built at a reasonable cost.
Evaluate the project to assess the environmental impacts of the Bobwhite-Manatee Transmission Line on residential areas, land parcels, educational institutions, and environmental sensitive lands, while also considering the comprehensive scope and financial implications of the entire project.
- Homes within proximity of the transmission line.
- Schools within proximity of the transmission line.
- Imposition of the transmission line on; communities, land owners or parcels, and environmentally sensitive lands.
- Length of the transmission line (related to engineering/cost).
The data layers in this project were initially in the Albers Conical Projection, which is ideal for large regions with significant east-west expanse. These layers were then reprojected to the State Plane Florida West coordinate system, which uses a projection optimized for high accuracy in Florida's specific region. This makes the State Plane system more precise for smaller-scale mapping within Florida compared to the broader Albers projection.
Project Location
The project is located in two counties on the west coast of the State of Florida. The preferred corridor, shown in orange on the map, runs south from Manatee Energy Center in Parish to the site of the proposed Bobwhite station.
Criteria #1: Homes within proximity of the Transmission Line
Process
Process
Created 400 ft buffer around the preferred corridor.
Out of the 73 homes that had been digitized, 24 homes inside the preferred corridor and 49 homes inside the 400 ft buffer.
- Digitized homes within the preferred corridor and 400 ft buffer using provided aerial photos.
- Created a field in the data table attributed digitized homes by inside the corridor or inside the buffer.
Out of the 73 homes that had been digitized, 24 homes inside the preferred corridor and 49 homes inside the 400 ft buffer.
Process
- Obtain a list of schools in Manatee County and Sarasota County.
- Geocoded the list.
- Used analysis tool to select by location schools that intersect the preferred corridor and the 400 ft buffer.
Neither the transmission line preferred buffer route nor the 400 ft buffer had any schools. This ensures the safety of the children attending these schools and was a high priority for Florida Power and Light.
Criteria #3: Imposition of the transmission line on: communities, land owners or parcels and environmentally sensitive lands
Imposition on land owners or parcels:
Process
- Created a new parcel layer from both Manatee County and Sarasota County parcels layers
- Using geoprocessing tools to select all parcels that intersects the preferred corridor and the 400 ft buffer, and created a new layer.
- From the new layer I did some analysis to find the number of parcels completely within the corridor, intersects the buffer, and intersects the corridor and the buffer.
Results
The result is 255 parcels is in proximity to the corridor and the buffer. 26 parcels within the corridor, 93 intersects the buffer, and 136 intersects both the corridor and the buffer.
Imposition on environmentally sensitive lands (Conservation lands)
Process
- Using geoprocessing tool intersect to create a new layer from the conservation lands that intersects the preferred corridor.
Results
The total conservation area impacted by the new transmission is about 163 Acres which is approximately 2.48 % of the total area of the preferred corridor.
Criteria #3: Imposition of the transmission line on: communities, land owners or parcels, and environmentally sensitive lands
Imposition on environmentally sensitive lands (Wetlands)
Process
- Using the intersection tool to create a new layer from the wetlands layer that intersects the preferred corridor.
- Symbolized the new layer based on wetlands description
- Using excel program to calculate the total areas and percentage for each category and then creating a chart.
Results
A total of 914 Acres of wetlands, approximately 13.92 % of the total area of the preferred corridor, is impacted by the new transmission line construction.
Process
- Create a centerline that runs parallel to the the preferred corridor north to south.
- Calculate the length of the centerline in miles
- Developing a cost estimate for the new transmission line using the formula:
Unit Cost per Mile x 1.5 (Urban Factor) x 2 (Line Length Factor)
Results
The total length of the new transmission line is about 25 Mile.
The cost for double circuit, strung on one side, tubular steel pole, engineering and construction cost only = $108,750,000
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