Making rules for transmission near massacre site

Colorado Public Utilities Commission taking public comment

The Colorado Power Pathway was planned to come within a few miles of the site of the Sand Creek Massacre that took the lives of Cheyenne but also Arapahoe and others in 1864. The Northern Cheyenne tribe in Montana has objected to the visual intrusion.

Rules were drafted to recognize the role of local governments in siting decisions and to acknowledge that there are significant and complex federal, state, and local requirements for protecting cultural resources.

The proposed rules would require that utilities establish processes in their electric resource plans that ensure that bidders provide relevant information about cultural resource surveys and consultation with tribal nations. This, according to a release from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, would help ensure the PUC has a robust understanding of potential impacts to the massacre site and opportunities to mitigate them when it makes decisions.

You can see the rules by going to the PUC website. It’s proceeding 24R-0306E.

There will be an information-only meeting at the PUC on Thursday, August 1, from noon to 1 p.m. Comments will be taken on Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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