The public comment period for the draft environmental assessment for the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration’s proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory power line project through our wilderness ends Feb. 20.
A second and final public comment hearing on the transmission line will take place starting at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Jemez Room at Santa Fe Community College. Also coming to an end is our confidence in the truthfulness of LANL’s dire predictions of exceeding capacity of the current power lines that feed LANL and Los Alamos County.
The current environmental assessment states Los Alamos and the lab usage was at 90 megawatts in 2019, and LANL predictions are usage will exceed 173 MW by 2027. In March of 2000, a final environmental assessment was issued for essentially the same proposed power line project. That assessment predicted peak load requirements would be about 107 MW by 2001 and 124 MW by 2007, according to the Electrical System Power Upgrades environmental assessment of March 9, 2000.
Here we are in 2024, still below 95 MW usage, even without concerted efforts in either independent local power source creation or conservation. There has been a lack of meaningful investment to incorporate solar power into new structures during the 20-year building spree in Los Alamos, and maintenance of our local utility infrastructure is deferred. Correcting these issues and expanding private investment in solar power and conservation will further reduce need.
Local equipment failures, many on LANL property, cause our power outages in Los Alamos. During major catastrophes, such as the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000, LANL and the county are evacuated and shut down anyway. It took 20 years, but the decrepit TA-3 natural gas-powered generators at LANL were upgraded in 2021 and should be helpful in the event of an emergency that shuts down power regionally. After all, part of DOE and NNSA justification for the generator upgrades was “to meet future minimum electric loads for LANL and Los Alamos County in the event of a total blackout of the Northern New Mexico grid.” (This is according to the environmental assessment for the installation and operation of combustion turbine generators at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M., Dec. 11, 2002, page 21).
Historically, the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center has been the largest power consumer in the power pool, and it is operational for only a few months out of the year. Thus far, the TA-3 natural gas-powered generators have covered all peak needs during that time period.
The real issue is a lack of political will to act on the maintenance of existing power structures, effectively upgrade them in a timely fashion and incorporate solar and conservation efforts area-wide. We need a comprehensive power plan for the area that puts forth actions and timelines to accomplish these tasks, not more unnecessary devastation of our landscape.
The Santa Fe New Mexican observes its 175th anniversary with a series highlighting some of the major stories and figures that have appeared in the paper's pages through its history.
