Path 15

Path 15 near Winters
PG&E 500 kV line about to cross Interstate 80 as it leaves the Vaca-Dixon substation located just north of I-80 near Vacaville. The 230 kV line (smaller tower to the right) crosses I-80 as well after leaving the substation. This section of the transmission line between the Table Mountain Substation (near Oroville) and the Tesla Substation (near Tracy) is one of the two PG&E 500 kV lines. The lines often run together (see below map), but in this area they are split apart. The other 500 kV line crosses I-80 east of Davis.

Path 15 is an 84-mile (135 km) portion[1] of the north–south power transmission corridor in California, U.S. It forms a part of the Pacific AC Intertie and the California-Oregon Transmission Project. Path 15 is part of The Western Electricity Coordinating Council's links of electrical intertie paths in the western United States.

Path 15, along with the Pacific DC Intertie running far to the east, forms an important transmission interconnection with the hydroelectric plants to the north and the fossil fuel plants to the south. Most of the three AC 500 kV lines were built by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) south of Tesla substation.

Path 15 consists of three lines at 500 kV and four lines at 230 kV. The 500 kV lines connect Los Banos to Gates and Los Banos to Midway. All four 230 kV lines have Gates at one end with the other ends at Panoche, Gregg, and McCall.[2]

There are only two connecting PG&E lines north of Tracy substation that connect Path 15 to Path 66 at the Round Mountain substation. The third line between Los Banos and Gates substation, south of Tracy, is operated by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), a division of the United States Department of Energy. This line was constructed away from the other two lines and is often out of sight. Most of the time the lines are in California's Sierra foothills and the Central Valley, but there are some PG&E lines that come from power plants along the shores of the Pacific Ocean and cross the California Coast Ranges and connect with the intertie. The Diablo Canyon Power Plant and the Moss Landing Power Plant are two examples.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Path 15". Western Area Power Administration. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  2. ^ "Path 15 Upgrade Project Fact Sheet" (PDF). Western Area Power Administration. June 1, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2013. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  3. ^ Route descriptions and tower designs are based on Google Earth images.
  4. ^ "California Transmission Lines". Retrieved 2013-06-24.