Canoga Park Chosen for New DWP Station

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has chosen a site at Victory Boulevard and Randi Avenue for construction of a power distributing station to serve customers in parts of Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, DWP officials said.

The utility had previously said it was considering the Canoga Park site, which is bounded to the east by Randi and to the west by Calabasas Creek, for the station, which it estimates will cost $10 million. DWP officials said they hope to start construction by the fall of 1987 and put the station into service by 1989.

The utility has given local zoning and public works agencies until early February to comment on environmental concerns. DWP officials said they will decide, based on the comments, whether to prepare an environmental impact report before proceeding.

A distributing station transforms higher voltage electricity into lower voltage power for distribution to customers. Such stations do not burn fuel or cause pollution, the DWP said, and the new one would be enclosed by a 16-foot-high wall for appearance’ sake.

DWP said the station is needed because of increased demand on five nearby stations.

In a separate matter, the utility’s governing board has awarded a $57-million contract to expand the Sylmar converter station on Sepulveda Boulevard to increase the amount of bulk power that can be exchanged between Southern California and the Pacific Northwest. The contract was awarded last month to BBC Brown Boveri Inc. of North Brunswick, N. J., by the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners.

The expansion, scheduled for completion in early 1990, will increase the capacity of the transmission system from 2,000 to 3,100 megawatts, DWP officials said.