General Information bulletin – Spring-summer 2011 - Hydro-Québec

Studies
Over the coming months, Hydro-Québec Équipement
et services partagés will carry out environmental
inventories and technical surveys to better understand
the host environment and to choose the line route
that has the fewest social, environmental and
technical impacts.
Defining the study area
Preliminary analysis of the area showed that there are
few acceptable options for the creation of a new line
corridor for this project. The best solution would be to
take advantage of the existing 120-kV line between
Bedford and Saint-Césaire substations, routing the
planned 230-kV line alongside it wherever possible.
The study area includes the municipalities that the
existing line and the route variants for the planned
line run through. It crosses eight municipalities in the
regional county municipalities (MRCs) of Rouville and
Brome-Missisquoi. The affected municipalities are:
Rouville mRC Brome-missisquoi mRC
Saint-Césaire Farnham
Ange-Gardien Sainte-Sabine
Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge
Saint-Ignace-de-Stanbridge
Stanbridge East
Bedford (township)
Study area characteristics
The study area includes two higher-density urban areas,
the towns of Saint-Césaire and Farnham. It is crossed
from east to west by Highway 10 and two main roads,
Route 112 and Route 104. A dozen power lines converge
on Saint-Césaire substation, a central point on the
regional electrical grid.
The majority of the study area is farmland occupied by
grain, dairy and livestock operations and a vineyard.
Outside the village hubs, the built environment is
concentrated along the banks of Rivière Yamaska and
Rivière aux Brochets and along several concession roads.
In the northern portion, the landscape is flat and
sparsely wooded, and its fields yield few opportunities
for reducing the visual impact of the planned line. The
southern part of the area is characterized by undulating
terrain and woods that would allow the line to blend
into its surroundings.
Tourism and recreational development in the study
area is focused on the historic character of the towns
of Farnham and Bedford, its rural landscapes, Rivière
Yamaska and the Saint-Césaire golf course. The study
area is also close to the orchards in Rougemont to the
north and to the Wine Route to the south.
Siting criteria
Line route selection in the study area will take into
account the following factors:
• Populated areas and farmland
• Visual integration of the new line into the region
• Desire to have public services grouped together