Environmental Optimization of Power Lines

A quantitative model has been developed to aid Pacific Gas and Electric Company in utilizing its existing Grid Based Information System of environmental data toward the optimal routing of high-voltage transmission lines. The data assessment process used in the development of the environmental data inventory and the programming routines designed for more efficient management and manipulation of the vast amount of these data are reported along with the optimization model implementation and the extensions of this work now in progress. An example is given to illustrate the determination of an environmentally optimal high-voltage transmission line through an actual geographical region within the company’s service area in Northern California.