In an effort to better serve its Eastside customers, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is planning to construct a four-mile 115 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Redmond to Kirkland.

The new line will be part of a larger electric system — known as the Moorlands electric system — that also serves Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville. There are currently three transmission lines serving the 12 substations in this system. The new line will run from PSE’s Sammamish substation at 9221 Willows Rd. N.E. in Redmond to its Juanita substation at 10910 N.E. 132nd St. in Kirkland.

PSE transmission planner Carol Jaeger said the new line, which PSE plans to extend from the Juanita substation to the Moorlands substation at 8010 N.E. 185th St. in Kenmore in the future, will improve the utility’s reliability in the area.

If one transmission line in the system is down or if PSE has to cut its power, that power is switched to the two remaining lines, which are able to handle the load capacity. However if two lines are down, Jaeger explained that the power of “12 substations on one line is too much.”

Gretchen Aliabadi, a spokesperson for PSE, added that the new line will help serve the area’s growing population as well as the increased use of electronic devices in general, adding that if the power goes out, many people nowadays can’t work.

“We don’t use power like we did 30 years ago,” she said.

In addition, Jaeger said once the fourth line from the Sammamish substation to the Moorlands substation is complete, two substations will switch to a different electric system, lightening the load.

On Wednesday night, PSE held a public meeting at the Old Schoolhouse Community Center in Redmond to inform residents of its plans as well as garner input and feedback. The meeting included a presentation, during which PSE officials presented three alternate routes for where the new transmission line could run.

Project manager Barry Lombard said PSE and a stakeholder advisory group — which includes local residents, business owners, landowners and city representatives — initially came up with 30 routes for the new line using a computer modeling program before narrowing it down to three options. He said there is no preferred route at the moment.

“Your input will help select the route,” Lombard told meeting attendees Wednesday night.

Alternative 1 (below) will run to the west of the Sammamish substation, with its main stretch running north on 124th Avenue Northeast, and end on Northeast 124th Street in Kirkland just south of Juanita High School (JHS) and the Juanita substation.

Alternative 2 (below) also runs to the west of the Sammamish substation. This route’s main stretch will be along 132nd Avenue Northeast and end at the Juanita substation.

Alternative 3 (below) will run to the to the east of the Sammamish substation. Its main stretch will be along Willows Road Northeast to Northeast 124th Street before heading west and ending at the Juanita substation. Lombard said they will need to “thread the needle” for the northernmost half of the Willows Road Northeast portion because the City of Redmond has designated this area as a view corridor.

Lombard said PSE officials will meet with the advisory group on July 18 and hopefully recommend a route to them. He said the community will be able to provide more input once the recommendation is made and they hope to have the finalized route by the end of August or beginning of September.

“I think it’s great,” Carmon Comunale said about the opportunities for public input.

Comunale attended Wednesday’s meeting to learn more about PSE’s plan as he lives on 132nd Avenue Northeast in Redmond — right along Alternative 2. He said one of his concerns is how the power lines would affect residents’ property values.

His concerns were echoed as a number of attendants also asked questions about property values during the question-and-answer portion of Wednesday’s meeting. They were told the new line wouldn’t have any type of effect.

There was another question about money and if or how the cost of the three routes would affect the decision.

“These three options are going to be close enough in cost (that it won’t be a factor),” Lombard answered.

The high-level cost estimate for the project is between $6 million and $8 million. The actual cost will depend on route selection, engineering, construction, property rights and other factors.

Others were worried about health and safety, especially since portions of the proposed routes go through residential areas and are near schools and parks. In response, PSE representatives told the crowd their concerns would be taken into consideration during the decision process.

Janell Bader, who lives in Redmond just off of 132nd Avenue Northeast on Northeast 112th Place, said even though the community has the opportunity to provide feedback, it’s hard to know how much of their comments will influence PSE’s decision.

“We go through this but we can’t make the decision,” she said.

There will be another community meeting on Saturday at Evergreen Hospital at 12040 N.E. 128th St.​ in Kirkland in the Surgery and Physicians Center’s Room TAN 100/101. The meeting will be from 10 a.m. to noon and contain the same information as Wednesday’s meeting.

Those who cannot attend the meeting can email their questions and comments to info@sammjuan115.com or call Lombard at (425) 456-2230.