Sierra Pacific looks to add voltage, 35-foot tower to Six Mile substation

By Karen Woodmansee

Appeal Staff Writer

Cory Cooper isn't happy that Sierra Pacific Power Co. wants to expand to two acres and 120,000 volts at a power station on Six Mile Canyon Road.

He said he lives within 400 feet of the smaller station now on the property, and didn't receive any notice from the county about the station.

He did receive a 6-inch-by-4-inch yellow card from the utility that he said only "kind of" told residents about plans to expand the station.

The company has requested a special-use permit to expand its substation on Six Mile Canyon Road, which has been approved by the Lyon County Planning Commission.

The commissioners will consider the request at the regular meeting at 9 a.m. today.

Sierra Pacific spokesman Faye Anderson said the purpose is to improve the stability and reliability of electrical service in the Mark Twain area.

Anderson said the upgraded power station will use single poles and will now encompass the whole two-acre lot owned by Sierra Pacific along Six Mile Canyon Road and across from Dwight Way in Mark Twain.

It will include a 35-foot communication tower so the substation can be controlled by remote, Anderson said, and will be surrounded by a brick wall.

Cooper said the wall will most certainly be defaced with graffiti and the expanded power station - which will handle twice the wattage as it does now - will lower property values.

"They're going to build an 8-foot wall around this thing," he said. "That's a blank canvas for anyone with a spray can, right next to a major road in a residential area.

He said he would probably be putting his home up for sale because, "my wife will not live next to a 2-acre big power station. Nor should anyone else. We have to move."

Cooper said that when he bought the home it was a "tiny, tiny transformer and station and now they have a 2-acre parcel with a 35-foot tower."

He said he called the number on the card and spoke with representative Will Sullivan, but "they don't address health concerns. All I get is a bunch of political answers," he said.

Cooper said he understood the need to increase power, but objected to it being done in that location.

The station is expected to be completed this summer.

Dave Lute, who lives across from the substation, has also expressed concern.

"I'm definitely against the expansion over here because it's going to cover quite an area, and it's going to mess up my view to the south," he said. "Also the noise that thing makes in the summertime. Those transformers make a loud humming noise."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.