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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 2 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Proposed Action and Alternatives PAGE 2-80 Alternative Route Segments East of Mattawa-Grant County Portions of alternative route segments located just east of Mattawa were eliminated from further consideration due to potential impacts to existing agricultural uses and operations. The potential impacts considered included loss of farmable land, orchards and vineyards, impacts to farming operations, including the relocation of wheel line irrigation systems and center pivot irrigation systems and safety hazards to aerial spraying operations and the use of helicopters to dry cherry orchards in the spring. Alternative Route Segments Columbia River Crossing below Priest Rapids Dam Portions of the southern alternative route segments that proceeded down Umtanum Ridge before crossing the Columbia River below the Priest Rapids Dam were eliminated from further consideration due to extremely rugged terrain (e.g., slopes greater than 45 percent and vertical cliff faces) and associated constructability issues. Alternative Route Segment Following the Midway-Moxee 115 kV Route Segment 2c follows a portion of the existing BPA Midway-Moxee 115 kV and Union Gap-Midway 230 kV Transmission Lines for about 8.6 miles from the intersection of these two lines southeast of Moxee. The potential for routing in the area extending along the section of the Midway-Moxee 115 kV Transmission Line west of its divergence from the Union Gap-Midway 230 kV Transmission Line and north/east of Moxee was also considered. This alternative route segment was eliminated from further consideration primarily due to the extensive amount of agricultural and residential development. Irrigated agriculture and circle pivot irrigation structures, as well as occupied structures, are directly adjacent to the existing ROW corridor along a significant portion of the existing Midway-Moxee Transmission Line in this area, with some irrigation and occupied structures encroaching into the ROW corridor. The density of the development, the potential need for occupied residential acquisition/demolition, conflicts with agricultural uses, and the additional length of the transmission line were reasons this route segment was eliminated from further consideration. 2.5.2 Non-Transmission Alternatives 2.5.2.1 Distributed Generation Distributed generation is placement of small generators within load pockets in urban areas. Distributed generation is typically less than 5.0 MW in net generating capacity that is located on distribution feeders near customer load. Examples of distributed generation include fuel cells, micro turbines, photovoltaic solar facilities, wind, landfill gas, and digester gas. Distributive generation is implemented, where feasible, in major population centers. Distributed generation is not a practical or reasonable alternative to the proposed Project because this alternative alone would not address the overloading and reliability issues that would occur with an outage of Pacific Power’s existing Pomona-Wanapum 230 kV Transmission Line and it would not address the need to provide another transmission path that could serve the over 500 MW load in the Yakima area, which the proposed Project is intended to provide. Therefore, this alternative was eliminated from further consideration. 2.5.2.2 Energy Conservation and Load Management “Energy conservation” refers to the more efficient use of electricity by customers in order to reduce load demand. Conservation incentive programs are designed to reduce energy consumption per customer, providing an increase in energy resources for new loads. “Load management” refers to power supply system improvements by a utility.