IREA seeks approval for new substation
By Lisa Crockett
Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) has taken the first step toward building a new substation in The Canyons development on the east side of I-25. The utility is looking to construct a new facility known as the “IREA Happy Canyon Substation” to be built on a six-acre parcel approximately a quarter mile east of the I-25 and Happy Canyon Road interchange.
In documents from IREA dated April 2013 submitted to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, construction on the new facility is slated to begin in May 2015 and be completed and in service by January 2016.
The new substation will convert power from the higher voltage that comes across transmission lines to the lower voltage suitable for residential and commercial use. The new substation will primarily serve The Canyons development (directly east of Castle Pines across I-25) and other new development, but will occasionally benefit existing customers as well.
“In the summertime when we have higher loads on the system, we have existing redundancy to serve customers,” said IREA Director of Lands and Rights-of-Way Brooks Kaufman. “The new substation will be a redundant system for Castle Pines customers.”
The new substation will not result in a rate increase for IREA customers. As of press time, City hearings on the matter had not yet been scheduled. City officials anticipate that hearings will begin in the first quarter of 2014.
For more information about hearing times and locations, visit www.castlepinesgov.com; click on “Departments” and “Community Development” for scheduled land-use cases.
