Planning commission recommends Rocky Mountain Power project to reconfigure lines, remove four Shaffer Lane poles

The Planning and Land Use Commission of the Town of Castle Valley on Aug. 14 recommended the Town Council approve a Rocky Mountain Power reliability project that would add a second 3‑phase feed into the town, reconfigure distribution lines and allow removal of four existing poles at the end of Shaffer Lane.

The recommendation follows technical presentations from the utility and discussion about how the project fits with Town Ordinance 92‑1, the town’s rule that new electrical distribution be installed underground except in specified exceptions. Commissioners and residents pressed the utility on where new poles would be sited, which spans would go underground, and who would bear the cost for the small segment some neighbors want buried privately.

Dan Vink, Rocky Mountain Power representative, described the proposal as a single reliability project that combines a redundant 3‑phase feed with localized rerouting to remove a line that currently runs over a house. “I take 69,000 volts from a transmission line ... we put in a new substation before we convert that 69,000 volts down to 25,000 volts,” Vink said, describing the company’s supply and how a second feed and additional equipment would let the utility balance loads across phases and reduce the number of customers who lose power when one phase goes out.

Under the configuration discussed at the meeting, Rocky Mountain Power engineers said the utility would install two new poles (one in the right‑of‑way between lots 206 and 207 and a “clean pole” near lot 190) and reconfigure the line so it turns and follows the property line to Shaffer Lane. That routing would eliminate an overhead span that now crosses the roof of a home and permit removal of four poles at the far end of Shaffer Lane, the utility said. Vink said the poles that were recently laid out at two sites would be removed or relocated as part of this plan.

Commissioners and residents discussed and confirmed several project details: about 20 customers live on Shaffer Lane and the utility plans to split them across the three phases so that losing one phase would affect only a portion of the street; the utility’s longer‑term plan includes potential substation work several miles outside town that is years away; and the line that serves Castle Valley is radial and historically long, which affects reliability and upgrades.

Commissioners also discussed Ordinance 92‑1 (Castle Valley Electric Utility Installation Requirements), which generally requires new electrical service be installed underground. Vink and commissioners noted the ordinance allows exceptions where underground installation would be unsafe or would jeopardize system reliability and said the commission may ask the town council to clarify or amend language that does not clearly distinguish primary distribution projects from private service hookups.

Several neighbors at the meeting and in subsequent follow‑up told the commission they are willing to pay privately to place the cul‑de‑sac segment underground; Rocky Mountain Power confirmed those private arrangements are separate from the utility’s reliability project and would be a private contract between the customers and the utility. “The residents have chosen to pay for that,” Vink said of the cul‑de‑sac undergrounding; he said he expects to contact the customers and hoped to have follow‑up next week.

The Planning and Land Use Commission voted to forward a recommendation to the Town Council that reflects the new routing presented by Rocky Mountain Power — removing the overhead span over the home, installing the two needed poles for the safe transition to underground, and recognizing that the elimination of four poles at the end of Shaffer Lane is contingent on the combined project. The commission’s motion was moved by Commissioner Jeff Whitney and seconded; the roll call vote approved the recommendation and the item will be considered by the Town Council at its next meeting.

Next steps: Rocky Mountain Power will continue easement work (the utility said it will survey and, where necessary, obtain easements from property owners), finalize construction maps for the Town Council presentation, and pursue private agreements where residents elect to pay to extend underground service into the cul‑de‑sac. The Town Council will receive the commission’s recommendation and may ask for further maps or conditions before approving an ordinance exception or a franchise/permit for the work.