Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Property owners along Waukeenah Highway, as well as motorists traveling the road, were already experiencing delays and disruptions last week, as work crews and equipment cleared easements and engaged in other preparatory activities for construction of the NextEra/Gulf Power high-voltage power line.
Since the week before, in fact, crews from Pike Electric, the company awarded the contract for the construction of 160kV transmission line, have been working on the south side of Waukeenah Highway between I-10 and U.S. 19.
Gordon Paulus, senior communications specialist with Gulf Power, a subsidiary of NextEra, said the work in Jefferson County had begun the week of March 15. He said the crews were engaged in clearing right-of-way and setting foundations for the eventual installation of the cement poles and high-voltage lines.
Paulus said the work would likely take the better part of the year to complete.
Did this mean that deputies and flagmen would continue to control traffic on the highway?
Paulus said it depended how close to the highway the crews were working, as the deputies and flagmen were precautionary measures to safeguard the crews.
“It’s a safety measure to protect the workers,” he said.
In instances where the work crews were far enough away from the road, the safety measures likely wouldn’t be necessary, he said. On the whole, however, motorists should expect to encounter slight delays on the road in the foreseeable future, as the crews continue working.
Paulus said that as of Thursday, March 25, about 12 percent of the project had been completed, meaning 12 percent of the entire project, which stretches 176 miles, from Columbia County on the east to Jackson County on the west, its ultimate terminus.
On its website, Gulf Power states that pre-construction activities started in late 2020 and construction began in early 2021, upon receipt of the necessary permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps of Engineers and other government agencies.
The North Florida Resiliency Connection, as the project is officially named, aims to enhance the reliability and resiliency of electric service for the residents of North Florida. The line, however, will provide no direct benefit to Jefferson County, other than for property taxes.
According to Gulf Power, the power line will generate more than $75 million in property tax revenues over the next 30 years, with the 26 miles that cross Jefferson County expected to produce an estimated $11 million during the three-decade period.
The transmission line enters Jefferson County alongside I-10 from Madison County, then turns south at Waukeenah Highway until it nears Tram Road, where it turns west toward Leon County. The line is supposed to have a 50-plus year life.
The concrete poles that will eventually be installed to carry the line will be between 75 and 110 feet high, measure between three and four feet in diameter, be spaced 350 to 600 feet apart and be buried 18 to 30 feet beneath ground level, according to Gulf Power’s website.
When word of the project first went public, many property owners in Leon and Jefferson counties raised an outcry, moved by worry over the devaluation of their properties and concerns over the aesthetical, environmental and health impacts of the project.
In response, the company adjusted the route a little in Leon County, but not in Jefferson County, where the project most directly impacts residents alongside Thompson Valley Road, Waukeenah Highway and the communities of Waukeenah and Wacissa.
When efforts by county officials failed to convince the power company to shift the route of the line to U.S. 19 instead of Waukeenah Highway, county staff began drafting an ordinance to regulate transmission lines at the local level, even though this authority is preempted by the state.
In the end, however, county officials and NextEra negotiated a deal, whereby the county rescinded its ordinance in exchange for the energy company contributing $3.3 million in direct and service contributions to Jefferson County community groups and agencies.