Arizona Public Service held an open house throughout the day on Wednesday, June 25 at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock in the Village of Oak Creek to informally meet with residents as construction gets underway for its new 69kV power line from McGuireville to the Village of Oak Creek.
The forum came after U.S. Forest Service Supervisor Aaron Mayville signed the Final Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact for the construction on June 12.
APS public outreach on the project started in 2018 and is projected to cost “around” $80 million according to APS Northern Division Director Frank Sanderson. The powerline will connect the Oak Creek substation near the intersection of State Route 179 and Jacks Canyon Road to the McGuireville substation with the stated goal of increasing redundancy to reduce the risk of power outages.
“Yes. We have [begun the] preliminary steps of starting construction, and that would be on the McGuireville side,” Sanderson said. “I believe the first part is some overhead work along the road near the McGuireville substation, and then activities will continue to ramp up throughout this month and into the coming months.”
The new line is scheduled to be in service in spring 2026, and APS is not anticipating any power outages will be caused by the construction. Generally, APS is starting from McGuireville and working north towards the VOC.
“For the next couple of months, we’ll be working more on that McGuireville side, and the underground construction will go from there,” Sanderson said.
Starting from the VOC substation, the line heads south along State Route 179, where it will go underneath the roadway and continue west before it reaches the Kel Fox Trail and follows that south until it reaches Beaverhead Flat Road with the line buried for the remainder of its length to the McGuireville substation.
The project will also replace aging wooden poles on the existing 69kV overhead transmission line with new steel poles, which are more resistant to storm damage.
VOC residents raised concerns about the project on two main issues: The visual impact of new power poles and lines along Kel Fox Trail on the south side of the Village of Oak Creek and the risk of wildfire from downed lines.
“A lot of what we’ve done is meet several times with members of the community,” Sanderson said, discussing visual mitigation. “We’ve hiked into those locations to understand their concerns. In this design, we’re utilizing 65-foot weathered poles, which have a rust-colored finish that blends into the landscape. …. We use them where appropriate to ensure — from a viewscape perspective — the impact is as minimal as possible.”
Due to public concern and new AI technology, wildfire-detection cameras will be installed on some transmission poles along the powerline route to help reduce wildfire risk, according to the USFS Decision Notice.
Additionally APS Manger of Wildfire Mitigation Wade Ward has confirmed that one of these new cameras was installed within the last two weeks on Airport Mesa and is providing a 360-degree view of the area including the neighborhoods between the mesa and Coffee Pot. The new camera was first discussed during an APS presentation to Sedona City Council on March 26.
“Many comments refer to power lines causing wildfires and fire risk to private property from incidents in California, Colorado or throughout the West,” the USFS wrote in response to the public comment phase in January. “While power lines have been associated with major wildfire events in other areas, the study area does not have a comparable fuel profile to these incident areas. The potential for a fire the magnitude of recent highly publicized wildfires from … transmission lines does not occur in the project area due to different vegetation and conditions.”
The BPRCC plans to meet on Thursday, July 10 to decide next steps.
“As the proposed transmission line comes into the [VOC] to connect to the existing substation … it crosses private properties,” BPRCC wrote to its members on June 20. “The status of easements through these properties is not yet final and the Big Park [Regional Coordinating] Council continues to monitor the situation(s).”
“Work will generally take place from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays; however, some weekend work may also be necessary,” an APS infographic reads. “Work schedules may vary depending on restrictions from [the Arizona Department of Transportation] and other jurisdictions.”
Helicopters will be used along Kel Fox Trail to install poles, with intermittent, brief flights limited to daylight hours. Residents should expect some noise. According to Kendra Lee, vice president of operations for Summit Line Construction, flights are tentatively scheduled for late summer or early fall, with a possible second round in March.
“Yes there will be helicopter noise,” Lee said. But the flights “will be more associated with specific needs … like bringing the helicopter in to deliver a piece of equipment or complete a particular section of work,” Lee said. “We may need the helicopter for a couple of weeks during that time frame, but it won’t be for the full duration of the project.”
The construction’s effect on motorists’ commute is anticipated to be minimal as well, according to APS officials.
Residents may contact the APS construction 24/7 hotline at (602) 532-6222 for up-to-date information and to provide feedback. For more information visit aps.com/ocmg.
