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Minutes for HB2321 - Committee on Utilities
Short Title
Requiring electric public utilities to notify cities prior to construction of urban electric transmission lines.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 17, 2021
Matt Sterling, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. HB 2321 would require an electric utility to provide notification to a city and landowners prior to beginning construction of an "urban electric transmission line" within the boundaries of such city. The bill would define an "urban electric transmission line" would be defined as any line that would traverse at least 2.5 miles through the corporate limits of a city having a population of 300,000 or more and is designed for the transfer of 69kV to 230kV of electricity.
Prior to construction such a line, the utility would be required to provide the city all preliminary construction plans and visual examples showing the proposed locations and dimensions of all poles and supporting facilities relative to streets, sight triangles at intersections, easements and public rights-of-way. Such notice would be required to be provided at least 6 months prior to the construction. (Attachment 1)
The Chairman called for proponent testimony on the bill.
Proponent Oral Testimony
Kansas State Representative Gail Finney spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated HB2321 is the result of 2 1/2 years of negotiations between the City of Wichita, Evergy, and the Legislature to give the city more input into future construction of urban electric transmission lines and poles. The bill is to address an outcry in 2018 when Evergy, then Weststar Energy, erected towering power poles near homes in northeast Wichita to support high-voltage lines. (Attachment 2)
Jeff Beasley, Vice President, Customer Operations, Evergy, spoke as a proponent of the bill. He stated Evergy realizes the missteps taken, and since then they have been listening very intently to stakeholder feedback. He said they learned to ensure residents have a visual of what updated infrastructure will look like. (Attachment 3)
Brandon Johnson, Vice Mayor, Wichita, KS spoke as a proponent of the bill, stating he received many calls when the poles started going up, and this bill has allowed them to let their voices be heard about design and impact of and Evergy has been cooperative, and this bill is a good step. (Attachment 4)
Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau spoke as a proponent of the bill. She thanked Representative Finney and Evergy for their work on the bill. She asked for the committee's strong support of the bill. (Attachment 5)
Written only proponent testimony
LaWanda DeShazer, Community Advocate, Wichita, Kansas (Attachment 6)
Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn, Political Action Chair, NAACP, Kansas State Conference (Attachment 7)
Barbara Johnston, private citizen (Attachment 8)
The Chairman opened for a period of questions and answers. Discussion ensued.
Seeing no more questions, The Chairman called for Neutral Testimony on the bill.
Oral, neutral testimony
Leo Haynos, Chief Engineer, Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), Utilities Division, spoke with a neutral position on the bill. He stated The Commission Staff is taking a neutral position on HB 2321, but he used the opportunity to explain and highlight KCC’s role in siting of electric transmission lines, and its notice process regarding electric power line construction. (Attachment 9)
Mr. Haynos stood for questions.
Seeing no more questions, The Chairman adjourned the hearing at 2:13 pm.
