By Parker Leavitt | The Arizona Republic
A controversial plan to run power lines — strung from steel poles about 65 feet tall — across the entrance to Scottsdale’s WestWorld mega-event center is moving forward after the city declined to join an effort to bury the lines.
The 69,000-volt power lines will hang almost directly above the iconic horse statue at WestWorld’s entrance, and the steel poles will span about 1,000 feet along the western edge of the cityowned property. Construction is scheduled to start in April.
Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electric company, says the new lines are needed to keep up with population growth and strengthen the power grid’s reliability. The 69,000-volt lines carry large amounts of electricity between substations, where the power is converted to lower voltages for business and residential use.
