Antelope-Magunden #2 Transmission Line

A segment of the Antelope-Magunden #2 Transmission Line intersects State Route 138 just east of 140th Street West. The electrical line was originally the Southern California Edison Vincent Line, which carried 220 kilovolts. One kilovolt, or kV contains 1,000 volts of electrical power. This line was constructed between 1925 and 1927

The Antelope-Magunden #2 Transmission Line was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as a contributor to a larger historic district.  It is significant at the state and national levels of significance as part of the Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District.  The Its period of significance began in 1911 when the larger project construction commenced and ended in 1929 when the last major features were completed.  The Antelope-Magunden #2 Transmission Line is important for its direct association with the Big Creek Hydroelectric System, which is the third high-voltage transmission line constructed from Big Creek to convey electricity to the Los Angeles region.  This line is an example of innovative electrical voltage technology and was one of the world’s longest high‐voltage transmission lines at the time of its completion.  With the components in the Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District, the system significantly contributed to the industrialization of the Los Angeles Region.

The Antelope-Magunden #2 Transmission Line transmits electricity from the Magunden plant in Frenso County to the Gould Station in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  Character-defining features of this transmission line are its linear corridor and the steel lattice towers. Each tower consists of steel construction set on concrete bases or “stubs.”  Each tower has a single cross arm atop the “cage” which support phase conductors or insulators on each side.  The single cross arm make this a single circuit system.   The insulators each support paired conductor wires.  One set of electrical grounding wires are strung on either side across the peaks of each tower.   Non-contributing elements include the conductor wire and insulators which, through routine and regular maintenance, have been replaced.

This electrical transmission line connects the SCE Magunden Substation at 7500 Mills Drive in Bakersfield (Kern County) to the SCE Antelope Substation at 9634 W Avenue J in Lancaster (Los Angeles County).

Caltrans. “Historical Resources Evaluation Report, State Route 138 Northwest Corridor Improvement” 2015.

“Generating Infrastructural Invisibility: Insulation, Interconnection, and Avian Excrement in the Southern California Power Grid” Environmental Humanities May 2015.

Historic American Engineering Record Big Creek Hydroelectric System, Vincent 220kv Transmission Line, HAER No. Ca--‐167--‐O.