Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Transmission Line

Introduction

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A segment of a Los Angeles Department of Water & Power Transmission Line crosses State Route138 at 120th Street West. This electric transmission line was constructed prior to 1954 by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP or DWP). The agency first began to deliver electricity in 1917 when they established a hydroelectric system in San Francisquito Canyon. Electric developments by Los Angeles Department of Water & Power were originally slow moving, but currently the LADWP receives a great deal of its power from Hoover Dam and provides electricity to most of Los Angeles County. At present, LADWP is the largest utility in the United States, providing water and power to nearly 4 million institutional, commercial and residential customers.

Backstory and Context

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This line is the Barren Ridge- Haskell Canyon, double-circuit electrical transmission line. Known as the BAR-HSK, line, it connects the Barren Ridge and Haskell Canyon Switching Stations. The Barren Ridge Switching Station is located south of Angeles National Forest and about 12 miles north of Mojave. In 2011, about 60 miles of new, double-circuit, 230 kilivolt transmission line were completed. At the same time, the Barren Ridge Switching Station was expanded and the Haskell Switching Station, in Santa Clarita was replaced.

This electric transmission line travels north-south and intersects Highway 138 at 120th Street. Three braced steel towers are located in this segment of the transmission line. Each tower consists of steel construction set on four concrete bases or “stubs.” Each tower has three cross arms atop the “cages” which support phase conductors or insulators on each side. The trio of cross arms make this a three-circuit system. The insulators each support paired conductor wires. Two sets of electrical grounding wires are strung across the peaks of each tower.

Sources

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

Campoli, Paul for American Power Association. “LADWP Marks the Completion of Grid Project: Will Deliver Wind, Solar.” 29 September, 2016.

Los Angeles, City of. Department of Water & Power. “Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Barren Ridge Renewable Energy Project in Los Angeles and Kern Counties of California.” 2008 and 2012.