Residents of the Wood River Valley have a long and commendable history of actively working to protect the aesthetics of their surroundings, where mountain views, brilliant and clear starlight, and pure air are essential to the lifestyle of thousands who prefer it to the urban pace.
Now the community's voices are once again needed in a new environmental challenge.
Future reliability of adequate and uninterrupted electrical power requires new transmission lines into the Wood River Valley between Hailey and Ketchum. That is an indisputable fact.
But what's debatable is where lines now proposed to be strung on 55-foot towers should be located—above ground on towers or below ground.
Idaho Power's estimated cost for the above-ground option is $78 million.
Burying the lines would boost costs dramatically and, because underground installation would be for aesthetic rather than operational reasons, Idaho Power believes added costs should be borne by the community.
Residents with strong views on aesthetics as well as on paying for them should attend meetings scheduled for Blaine County in the Community Campus in Hailey next Wednesday, March 12, at 6 p.m., and for Lincoln County in Shoshone at the Masonic Lodge on Thursday, March 13, at 6 p.m., and express themselves
Public sentiment will have a deciding effect on public officials and Idaho Power about community willingness to underwrite a more appealing underground installation.
