Bureau of Land Management employees, from left, Susanne Rowe, district archeologist for Southern Nevada, Beth Ransel, acting assistant field manager for lands in the Las Vegas field office, and Sharon Knowlton, project manager for the TransWest Express project, discuss the proposed transmission line corridor during a scoping meeting in the Overton Community Center.

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

A scoping meeting in the Overton Community Center last week considering the proposed route of a high power transmission line from Rawlins, WY, to Eldorado Valley near Boulder City generated little citizen input from local residents.

Although the proposed power-line corridor runs just north of Moapa on its way south, only 15 residents attended the 3-hour summit Tuesday, March 1, to offer comment.

The power line is part of a massive power project by TransWest Express LLC (TWE) and includes construction of a vast wind generating facility in Wyoming. The wind farm is a completely separate project.

The proposed 725-mile power-line corridor passes through portions of four states, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, as well as 24 separate counties including Clark County. The corridor is two miles wide, although when constructed, only 250 feet will actually have to be approved for use.

The purpose of the Moapa Valley meeting, one of many that have been scheduled or already held throughout the west, was to garner input from citizens to assist in the completion of an environmental impact statement (EIS) which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations.

When and if approved by federal, state, county and private agencies that have a stake in its eventual placement, the transmission line would be used to transport up to 3,000 megawatts of electric power from wind generating plants in Wyoming to the Desert Southwest of Nevada, Arizona and California according to Roxane Perruso, a TWE vice president.

“The line will deliver clean, sustainable power to about 1.8 million homes,” Perruso said. “It is an efficient way to link Wyoming’s tremendous wind energy with the cities in the west where more electricity is needed.”

The two lead federal agencies on the 725 mile project are the BLM and the Western Area Power Administration.

The BLM in Wyoming is handling the EIS preparation and has invited more than 50 federal, state and county governments to participate as cooperating agencies. Additionally, 45 tribes and pueblos and a host of private agencies have also been notified. Thirty-three agencies have accepted the invitation.

“Approximately 495 miles of the project is on federal land,” said Sharon Knowlton, BLM project manager responsible for the coordinating the massive venture. “So far, we have developed more than 2,000 miles of alternatives (to the proposed route) to avoid and mitigate impacts.”

There are many obstacles that must be overcome before the project can ever get off the ground. Much of the property under the proposed route is private or state-owned land that would have to be secured either through easements, rights-of-way and/or purchases including the use of eminent domain if necessary.

Portions of the proposed line also pass through U.S. Forest Service lands (seven national forests) including Wilderness Areas, a major hurdle that will have to be met and overcome.

The overall TWE project to produce and transport clean energy is immense. When completed the direct current line will be the second largest in the U.S. and the fifth largest in the world.

Basically, the majority of the best energy producing winds in the U.S. is available in Wyoming where there are already numerous wind power generating facilities.

Unfortunately, Wyoming’s existing export transmission capacity is currently being used, which underscores the need for a new transmission line to tie into the western power grid, David F. Smith, TWE director of engineering and operations, told the Moapa Valley Progress.

In order to provide an outlet for future TWE produced power, as well as an additional transmission channel for power producers currently in operation, TWE proposed the huge transmission project.

The clamor for clean, renewable energy is echoing in nearly every state in the nation, many of which have established “renewable portfolio standards” that require utilities to meet certain future mandates.

For example, according to TWE, California requires 33 percent of all electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, Arizona 15 percent by 2025 and Nevada 25 percent by 2025. All this points to the drastic need for the new line.

If everything proceeds in a timely and favorable manner, TWE hopes to have the line in operation by 2015.

TWE and the Western Area Power Administration (Western) have entered into an agreement where the federal government would acquire and hold 50 percent of the transmission line.

“TransWest asked us to participate and we are still considering it,” said Jim Hartman, Western spokesman. “Western’s involvement, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), would greatly enhance the project allowing TWE to secure loans at low rates.”

“Washington considers this a very important project for the western grid,” the BLM’s Knowlton said, “and Western’s participation greatly increases its chances for success.”

The BLM and Western are encouraging comments and public participation in the EIS process and are still soliciting citizen input.

Written comments may be submitted at the public scoping meetings or by mail at Bureau of Land Management, TransWest Express Project, P.O. Box 20687, Cheyenne, WY, 82003, or by email to TransWest_WYMail@blm.gov.