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Sandia Heights Residents Oppose overhead ⚡115 kV transmission lines and 90-foot towers⚡ along Tramway Blvd when a safer, shorter alternative exists.

 Media coverage: KRQE  |  Albuquerque Journal  |  KOAT

Important Update: SHHA Appeal 

On December 16, 2025, the Bernalillo County Planning Commission (CPC) issued a Record of Decision recommending approval of PNM’s substation and transmission line permits. The CPC’s role is advisory only—it makes recommendations, not final decisions. The Record of Decision sets 1:00 PM on January 27, 2026 for the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners public hearing. More details will be shared as they become available.

Your Sandia Heights Homeowners Association submitted an appeal on 12/29 on behalf of concerned SHHA members. 

A Call to Action: What You Can Do

• ✅ Support the SHHA Appeal: Below are the options to submit electronic public comment. See a sample letter here. 
  • Prior to January 9, 2026, comments submitted to  Kiverson@bernco.gov   will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) as part of the agenda item packet.
  • Between January 9, 2026  and January 23, 2026 comments submitted to kiverson@bernco.gov will be collected and presented to the BCC for their consideration to enter them into the public record at the January 27, 2026 public hearing.
  • Prior to the January 27, 2026 public hearing, the BCC will take written public comments at the following link:  https://www.bernco.gov/boards-commissions/speak-at-a-meeting/ 
• ✅ Attend the Hearing: January 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM. More details will be posted as they become available. 

What’s Going On?

• Despite strong community opposition, the CPC recommended approval of the PNM North Albuquerque Acres (NAA) Substation project at its December 3, 2025 meeting. The proposed substation location is on the Paseo del Norte frontage road adjacent to Bernalillo County Fire Station #35.
• Between September 3 and November 25, 2025:
  • 485 individuals submitted letters or emails opposing the project
  • Only 78 letters were submitted in support
• The December 3 CPC meeting lasted nearly six hours, with approximately 50 members of the public providing testimony. The overwhelming majority opposed the project.
• PNM’s preferred route places 90-foot transmission poles and 115 kV lines along Paseo del Norte to Tramway, then south along the east side of Tramway, adjacent to homes, parks, and heavily used walking and biking paths.

What’s Next?

1. Appeal Process: SHHA will submit an appeal; community support strengthens it.
2. Board Hearing: January 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM, public comment allowed.

Why Sandia Heights Residents Oppose the Tramway Blvd Route

Wildfire Risk, WUI Exposure & Evacuation Constraints

1. High Fire Risk Confirmed by Official Plans

• The Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Hazard Mitigation Plan (2022–2027) ranks wildfire as Highly Likely with Extensive and Catastrophic potential impacts.
• The Bernalillo County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP, 2022) designates Sandia Heights North (“La Luz”) as HIGH risk and Sandia Heights South as MEDIUM.
• The proposed Tramway transmission corridor sits directly within the Wildland–Urban Interface (WUI), where wildfire can rapidly spread between vegetative and structural fuels.

2. Evacuation Limitations Unique to Sandia Heights

• Tramway Boulevard is the only ingress and egress for all Sandia Heights residents.
• The Eubank route has multiple exit corridors and substantially lower WUI exposure.
• Any closure of Tramway—whether due to wildfire response, helicopter operations, or arroyo hazards—leaves no viable evacuation route for the community.

3. Community Mitigation Efforts Undermined

• SHHA’s Environment & Safety Committee and volunteers routinely conduct defensible-space improvements, fuels reduction, dead-tree removal, home-hardening education, and evacuation preparedness.
• Placing 90-foot electrical towers in a high-risk WUI corridor contradicts and undermines these fire-resilience efforts.
• PNM’s claims that the Tramway route poses “low fire risk” or “equivalent risk to Eubank” are directly contradicted by County wildfire planning documents.

II. Sensitive Receptors, EMF Exposure & PNM’s Selective Criteria

1. Selective Application of “Sensitive Receptor” Criteria

• PNM excluded approximately 40 homes, Little Cloud Park, and the Tramway walking and biking trail—all within 100 feet of the proposed towers—from its sensitive receptor analysis.
• At the same time, PNM relied on schools and parks located farther from proposed lines to reject alternative routes.
• This inconsistent application of criteria reflects selective screening rather than a comprehensive risk evaluation.

2. Lack of EMF Modeling

• PNM has provided no transparent, quantitative EMF analysis for the Tramway alignment.
• Homes, park users, walkers, runners, and hundreds of daily bike-path users would be significantly closer to the transmission corridor than the receptors PNM cites elsewhere.
• Decisions based solely on avoidance criteria—without exposure modeling—are incomplete and insufficient for responsible infrastructure planning.

III. Open Space, Scenic, and Multimodal Corridor Impacts

1. Impact on County and City Recreational Assets

• The Tramway multi-use trail is part of the Bernalillo County Comprehensive Open Space Network, which the County commits to “preserve and protect from development.”
• The Tramway bike path is designated by NMDOT as a Tier 1 Route, reflecting high recreational demand, tourism value, and bicycle use.
• This corridor is among the most heavily used recreational routes in New Mexico, with year-round use by families, seniors, commuters, and tourists.

2. Impact on Scenic Views and Tourism

• The Sandia Peak Tramway is one of the region’s most significant tourist destinations.
• Visitors typically approach via Paseo del Norte or Tramway Boulevard, where long stretches provide unobstructed panoramic views of the Sandia Mountains.
• The proposed Tramway route would place 90-foot towers directly between visitors and the mountains, permanently altering one of Albuquerque’s most iconic scenic gateways.

3. Conflict with County Planning Priorities

• Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque, and NMDOT have designated the Tramway corridor for:
  • multimodal transportation improvements,
  • trail and bikeway connectivity,
  • open space preservation, and
  • scenic-view protection.
• PNM’s siting documents incorrectly state that there are “no special resource factors” and that no viewshed analysis is required.

4. Quality of Life & Public Benefit

• Transmission towers along Tramway would degrade the experience of tens of thousands of users annually and diminish one of the County’s most visible public landscapes.

IV. Insurance Risk & Community Commitments

1. Insurance Impacts Already Occurring

• Residents report insurance premium increases, cancellations, and new requirements for fire hardening.
• Insurance companies rely on proprietary wildfire-risk models—not PNM assessments.
• Adding tall electrical infrastructure in a known high-risk WUI corridor increases ignition risk and threatens coverage availability and affordability.

2. Community Investments in Safety

• Residents have invested heavily in defensible space, home hardening, fuels reduction, and property maintenance.
• PNM’s proposal introduces new ignition hazards and aerial-suppression obstacles, placing an unfair burden on residents who have already taken substantial mitigation steps.

Links and Resources

• PNM project website: https://www.pnm.com/naa
• Detailed fire risk analysis by community member D.N. Jenkins:  View document 
• Media coverage: KRQE  |  Albuquerque Journal  |  KOAT
• A sample letter that you can send in support of the SHHA appeal.