A New Method for Public Involvement in Electric Transmission-Line Routing

Public participation in and acceptance of routing decisions for electric transmission lines has delayed and prevented the construction of numerous lines in recent decades. A new method of public participation called structured public involvement (SPI), developed previously by two of the authors for routing other public infrastructure, has been adapted to routing electric transmission lines. SPI elicits and quantifies community values then routes the line according to these values and best engineering design practices. The process is done before any potential routes are ever considered by the transmission company and routing professionals, effectively allowing the public, in collaboration with experts, to determine the line route. This reduces the chances of line routing failure by simplifying the project and greatly accelerating the complex problem of comparing alternate line routes, and it facilitates public acceptance of a final route.