Community Corner

Report: Comment Tonight on TECO Power Lines in FishHawk

Also, a rescheduled certification hearing on the matter is set for June 26 in Bartow.

Word is spreading about a meeting tonight, June 25, at the Palmetto Club in FishHawk Ranch, for residents who want to go on the record with their comments concerning the expansion of TECO transmission lines from Polk County into Lithia.

The meeting is set to being 7 p.m. tonight, at the Palmetto Club, at 17004 Dorman Road in Lithia, according to an announcement posted by the Osprey Observer.

The meeting reportedly comes on the eve of rescheduled certification hearing on an application to construct and operate an electrical power plant in Polk County. That meeting is said to be set for June 26 at 10 a.m., at the Bartow Civic Center.

According to the Polk Power Station to FishHawk Substation notice, posted online by the Tampa Electric Company (TECO), the company seeks to expand the Polk Power Station by 2017.

"The project would require about 40 miles of new 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines," according to the notice. "The Polk Power to FishHawk Substation line would begin at the power plant, in southwestern Polk County, and end at the company's FishHawk Substation, [at] 19306 Boyette Road in southeastern Hillsborough County."

Also, TECO "would build a proposed substation near Balm Boyette Road and Aspen Avenue." And that "a 10-mile portion of an existing 230-kV transmission line in the Pierce and Bradley areas of Polk County also would be relocated to improve reliability."

The Bartow Civic Center is at 2250 South Floral Ave., in Polk County. As noted in the Osprey Observer report, "the purpose of the hearing is to take written or oral testimony on the effects of the proposed electrical power plant, directly associated transmission lines, and other associated facilities, or any other matter appropriate to the consideration of the site, the transmission line corridors, and associated facilities."

Are you going to the hearing? Post your views and accounts in the comment box below.

For additional information about the transmission lines, contact TECO at 813-630-6295. For information about the proposed Polk County plant expansion, call: 813-228-1021.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here