A building proposed by a developer was adjacent to a transmission corridor and maintaining the required clearances from the transmission to the building became an issue.
Due to environmental electric fields being present in and near a high voltage transmission corridor, an adequate setback must be maintained to achieve the safety of workers, maintenance staff and the general public. With the proposed building height and a transmission ROW with two 500kV lines, a recommended setback of the building was provided by a table in the utility provider’s technical guideline. As dictated by the technical guideline, if the building is proposed at a closer setback than allowed for in the guideline, a detailed electric field study must be undertaken and submitted to the utility for review.
DMD undertook the required electric field study to determine the minimum permissible distance from the closest conductor in the utility Right of Way (ROW) based on tolerances from IEEE and the utility. For the study we used a Corona and Field Effects software to determine the environmental electric field. Our analysis showed a potential reduction in building setback to meet the developer’s requirements while still maintaining the safety levels required of IEEE and the local utility.
