PacifiCorp Receives Federal Approval for $2 Billion Power Line in the West

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on May 26 granted final approval for PacifiCorp’s 416-mile Energy Gateway South Transmission line that is designed to give the western United States greater access to solar, wind, and geothermal. Around 183 miles of the line are in Utah, with the remaining distributed among Wyoming and Colorado.

According to the BLM, the new power line will support over 1,300 construction jobs, allow for the addition of up to 2 gigawatts of renewable energy resources in the West and is likely to be integrated into the grid ensuring reliability of existing power generation units. The project is in the interests of the Biden administration, which has promised to accelerate the implementation of at least 25 gigawatts of renewable energy projects on public lands to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050.

The decision allows PacifiCorp to start construction of a 500 KV transmission line, connecting Aeolus Substation in Wyoming and Clover Substation in Utah. The project is on track to achieve the utility’s Energy Vision 2024. The company has already filed an application for a right-of-way to build the transmission line.

Last month, the Wyoming Public Service Commission granted certificates of public convenience and necessity for PacifiCorp to proceed with the project. Utah granted a similar approval in April. The project is an important component of the company’s 2021 integrated resource plan, which indicates the need for additional generation over the 20-year planning horizon. Under the plan, the capacity need increases to more than 6,600 megawatts by 2040, from over 1,000 megawatts in 2021.

The project is part of PacifiCorp’s Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion, a multi-year plan for transmission expansion across the West. In November2007, the utility submitted an application for transportation and utility systems and facilities on Federal Lands to the BLM, seeking authorization to utilize public lands for the needs of Gateway South Project. The initial application was revised several times between 2007 and 2013 to amend the routing plan and project description. The company in May, 2007 announced a multiyear project to strengthen its present power line transmission system by developing about 2000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to provide power to its customer base from solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources.