MARFA — American Electric Power (AEP) is proposing to build a new, much larger, substation on Oak Street, catty-corner to the existing substation’s current location, and is seeking a rezone in the process, prompting backlash from neighborhood residents who oppose the industrialization of residential property.
The project was the subject of a public hearing — the second of two planned hearings — on Tuesday evening, where locals gathered with the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and AEP External Affairs Manager Fred Guerrero.
Guerrero said AEP has been aware of the need for a new substation for some time and has been looking for the right piece of property to build it for a couple of years, a statement backed up by realtor Kathleen Walstrom who is representing the seller of the property and who works with AEP’s real estate representative. The substation in question supplies the City of Marfa with power.
The existing substation’s capacity is 5 MVA (megavolt-amperes,) but it is routinely over capacity operating at 7 MVA during the peak of summer and winter, a 40% overload, according to Guerrero. No concrete data on usage was presented. In January, during an extended cold snap, Presidio County officials called on Marfa’s residents to conserve electricity to avoid blackouts.
“It’s not good for a transformer,” Guerrero said. “You continually overload it, it degrades it, and then eventually it’s gonna go bad.”
The proposed site for the new substation — which will cost AEP, specifically its Texas ratepayers, around $7 to $10 million — is a four-acre residential lot on the East Side of town, at the corner of Oak and Aparejo streets just before the bridge over Alamito Creek. The estimated footprint of the new substation is 250 feet by 250 feet with a 30-foot-high bay — eight times larger than the current substation, according to neighborhood resident Ginger Griffice.
“This is a much bigger ask than to just rezone a piece of property,” Griffice said. “This would alter the entire east side. The city notified people within 200 feet of the zoning request, but in actuality, the whole town needs to be aware of this.”
Guerrero explained that the purpose of the new larger substation is to “increase the capacity and reliability of the system,” and to “increase capacity for future growth.”
According to city employee Ann Dunlap, who was present at the meeting, 14 homeowners fell within the “magic circle,” 200 feet around the proposed substation site, and public notices about the zoning change hearings were posted for three weeks in the newspaper. The first public hearing was on March 18. Notices ran in The Big Bend Sentinel about the first and second public hearings on February 27 and March 6. A notice about the second public hearing ran on April 3. While the postings meet legal requirements, they did use “AEP” abbreviated, instead of American Electric Power, and there is no mention of a “substation,” which drew criticism from one resident.
Several residents who received the letters were present at Tuesday’s meeting, including P&Z Chairman Stephen “Chick” Rabourn, who disclosed that he lives in the affected area. Also present were several Sal Si Puedes residents that live around the Alamito Creek substation, which is also in a residential area and has been upgraded, increasing its footprint, in the past. The Alamito Creek station connects to Fort Davis, Presidio, Alpine and more.
Marfa residents that spoke out against the new substation expressed an understanding that reliable power is needed, and that AEP is a company town with good local relations, but ultimately disagreed with the proposed location of the infrastructure.
Sara Melancon Bingham, who owns a house across the street from the proposed substation location, said she doesn’t want to see a quiet neighborhood of modest family homes disrupted by the industrial infrastructure of the substation, including fencing, electrical hum and lights.
“Rezoning that land from residential to industrial is not only going to be a huge bummer for me and all of my neighbors, it’s going to fundamentally change the character of that neighborhood, not just for a year or two, but permanently,” Bingham said. “It sends a message that our quiet residential spaces can be reshaped for corporate convenience.”
Several residents, including Bingham and Griffice, stated that the new substation will negatively impact the value of their homes that they have worked hard to improve — a trend that could disappear if a substation were added to the area. “I invested in this neighborhood with the assurance that the area is zoned residential. Would I have purchased it if I knew there was a transmission station there? No,” Griffice said. “We’re putting properties back on the tax rolls. No one will do that next to a substation. So it affects all of town, not just this neighborhood, in terms of future development and economic health.”
Multiple residents asked Guerrero why alternative sites — like land in the county further outside of town or within city limits in existing semi-industrial areas — were not presented or were not pursued. Guerrero explained that AEP struggled to locate the lot they are pursuing and there really are no other feasible options. He said that AEP’s current policy requires a minimum of 3.5 acres to build a new substation, and the company wants to build it in city limits so it can bolster tax revenue for the city and the school district. It also saves money and prevents disruption to utilize existing lines and keep things efficient, he said.
“If we increase costs, and then we also increase our footprint by adding more distribution lines, well then we’re creating more disruption, with a greater footprint, with our poles in the area, and then also we’re increasing the cost and which is going to get passed on to the ratepayer,” Guerrero said.
A few residents also spoke in favor of the new substation location, in addition to County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler, who voiced David Beebe’s support on his behalf. Several mentioned the importance of reliable electricity regarding elders and those with medical devices that rely on the resource.
Agustin Gonzalez, speaking in his capacity as a Sal Si Puedes resident whose home abuts the Alamito Creek substation, didn’t express whether he was for or against the project, but stated that at the end of the day, the new substation has to go somewhere, and the further away from the current site the more complex the project.
“It doesn’t matter where in town we put this substation that’s needed. It doesn’t matter if it’s the north end of the town, south end of town, east end of the town, there’s gonna be an argument against it,” Gonzalez said. “We’re gonna be in here who knows how many times, the same situation, the same question.”
The final design of the new substation will not be complete until a zoning change is approved and the land sale is finalized. P&Z members will now prepare a report on their recommendations for the rezone, including resident feedback, and will present their findings to the City Council, which will decide whether or not to approve it based on the report.