CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) — U.S. land managers said Thursday they had given final approval for a 416-mile transmission line that would connect wind farms in eastern Wyoming to customers in Utah and elsewhere in the West. .
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it had notified Portland-based PacifiCorp that it could proceed with its Energy Gateway South transmission line. It will stretch from the Medicine Bow, Wyoming area through northwestern Colorado and end near Mona, Utah, south of Salt Lake City.
The Biden administration has promoted renewable energy in the West, but delivering that energy to customers will require major upgrades to the country’s aging power grid.
125 mile stretch of Xcel transmission lines completed and energized (2020)
File photo, (Credit: Steve Hockstein/Bloomberg/iStock/Getty Images)
Gateway South is part of a larger PacifiCorps plan to install about 2,000 miles of new transmission lines across the West.
RELATED Xcel Energy launches drones for power line inspections with a twist (2018)
Construction of Gateway South is expected to begin in June. In August, PacifiCorps plans to begin work on part of another line, known as Gateway West, which would stretch 75 miles through eastern Wyoming. said utilities spokeswoman Tiffany Erickson.
Both lines are expected to be in service by the end of 2024, she said.
RELATED Steamboat Ski Resort selling lift equipment to the public
(Copyright 2022 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
