Electric substation postponed

A decision regarding an electric substation planned for the corner of Emerson Drive and Mark Way may be postponed for another month.

Carson City's Regional Planning Commission is scheduled to make a decision Wednesday regarding a site at odds with many area residents.

The Community Development Department recommended the commission deny the power company's application, but asked Sierra Pacific to consider amending its application to include a second site.

The alternate site the power company is agreeing to consider is south of the current site on Emerson Drive, north of College Parkway.

"Our preference is still for the site on the north side (of the future freeway), but we've said all along we're open to looking at other sites," Sierra Pacific Spokesman Karl Walquist said.

Community Development and Sierra Pacific will request a continuance from the planning commissioners in order to gather more information about the alternate site.

Community Development Senior Planner Juan Guzman said he expects commissioners to grant the continuance.

"Hearing it now won't resolve anything," Guzman said.

Sierra Pacific has argued that the four electric substations serving Carson City aren't sufficient and and a fifth station is necessary to alleviate the overload on the other stations and improve its electric system reliability.

Sierra Pacific wrangled with city officials and residents for more than seven months over a proposal to build a substation at 1200 Arrowhead Drive before scrapping their plans.

Residents near both the Arrowhead and Emerson drives sites opposed the substation because they claim it will devalue their property, create a visual obstruction and could create health hazards. Residents also argue the substation belongs in an industrial and not a residential area.