Dawson Public Power, North Platte staff agree to study moving 69 kV line and shared‑pole options

Dawson Public Power District representatives told the North Platte City Council on March 18 they want to reroute a 69,000‑volt line through a corridor inside the city's electrical service area and asked for permission to serve several customers south of State Farm Road.

Aaron Edwards of Dawson said the district needs to relocate a transmission route because ongoing excavation at a nearby site has left current poles on unstable ground. Dawson proposes rebuilding the line on taller poles along a route that overlaps the city's existing distribution corridor; Dawson would place high‑voltage transmission and allow city distribution to remain as underbuild on the same poles if the parties agree.

Scott Standy, city electric superintendent, said the city has performed underbuild arrangements with neighboring utilities in other parts of the system and would consider options that preserve city distribution service, maintain redundancy and support future development. Standy said he would oppose ceding customers in the area without careful study because the south‑of‑State Farm Road corridor is a likely route for future industrial or commercial growth.

Gwen Couch, Dawson general manager, and Edwards said Dawson would like the city's concurrence to begin engineering work so both utilities can evaluate costs, pole height, transformer upgrades and customer transitions. Dawson reported the immediate group includes about eight residential accounts and two irrigation wells; any customer transfer would require regulatory review by the state power review board.

Council members encouraged staff cooperation and asked Dawson and city electrical staff to prepare a formal proposal. The council did not vote on a transfer of customers or any change to service territory; instead members asked Aaron Edwards and Scott Standy to meet and return with engineering details and an agreement outline for council consideration.

Council and staff highlighted core objectives for any arrangement: preserve distribution redundancy, protect future development options in the corridor and spell out operations and cost responsibilities (for example, who pays to replace poles or to upgrade transformers). Officials also raised storm‑response and maintenance coordination questions that would be addressed in a written agreement.

Dawson and city staff will report back to the council with a proposal and possible terms for pole attachment, underbuild design and any customer‑service transfers for the power review board to consider if necessary.