Shiloh II Wind Farm, Solano County, California

For the Solano County Department of Resource Management (the state lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, E & E prepared the third-party EIR addressing the construction and operation of the 176-MW Shiloh II wind energy plant adjacent to the Shiloh I facility in the Montezuma Hills wind resource area.  Shiloh II comprises eighty-eight 2-MW wind turbines with associated generators, towers, foundations, and pad-mounted transformers; a switchyard and substation; and a 3-mile transmission line.  The project also involved expansion of an existing operations and maintenance building.

The EIR provided an evaluation of impacts associated with development of about 6,100 acres of private land and the reconductoring of an 11-mile segment of the existing 230-kV Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) power line required to serve this and other future wind projects in the area.  E & E worked closely with the County to expedite the EIR process in a manner that allowed the applicant (Shiloh Wind Partners, LLC, a subsidiary of enXco, Inc.) to earn production tax credits.

Priority issues addressed in the Shiloh II EIR included the 11-mile power line reconductoring, involving the replacement of conductors along 11 miles of existing 230-kV transmission line in order to increase the capacity of PG&E’s electrical transmission system.