Palermo Substation Expansion Project, Butte County

Palermo Substation Expansion Project, Butte County

PG&E proposes to expand the Palermo Substation to accommodate new circuit breakers and other electrical protection equipment that provide protection to the high voltage lines entering the substation. The project is part of a larger plan to upgrade PG&E's protection system for the high voltage electrical grid to minimize the chance for wide scale electrical interruptions. As such, the physical expansion of the current fenced yard is necessary so the existing circuit breakers may remain in operation until the new breakers are installed. Once the new breakers are operational, the old breakers will be removed from the site. As such, the new capacitor will be on the same site as the capacitor to be replaced. A capacitor is a device consisting of two or more conducting plates separated from one another by an insulating material and used for storing an electric charge. A circuit breaker is a device that automatically interrupts the flow of an electric current, as when the current becomes excessive. The equipment being replaced serves the same purpose as the new breaker and there will be no increase in electrical transmission capacity as a result of the project. The PG&E property consists of approximately 34 acres and the existing fenced substation occupies 6.7 acres. The expansion will increase the fenced substation by 1.1 acres to 7.8 acres, still leaving a substantial buffer between the substation and adjacent properties. This project will have direct impacts to vernal pools; therefore, PG&E will purchase 0.078 acres of vernal pool credits at the Dove Ridge Mitigation Bank in Butte County.

Butte