The Biden-Harris administration today announced that the Bureau of Land Management has issued the final approval for construction of the 416-mile Energy Gateway South Transmission line, a significant milestone in the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to modernize America’s power infrastructure in the West and permit at least 25 gigawatts of solar, wind, and geothermal production on public lands by 2025.
The project will support approximately 1,325 construction jobs and help integrate up to 2,000 megawatts of new renewable energy resources into the grid while also ensuring reliability of existing generation resources. Building transmission lines will help deliver cleaner and cheaper electricity that lowers costs for families and consumers.
“BLM-managed public lands will continue to serve an important role in modernizing the nation’s infrastructure as we advance President Biden’s goal of achieving a net-zero economy by 2050,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management. “As we build toward a clean energy future, we must make sure we do so responsibly. Approving large-scale transmission projects like this are key to bringing renewable energy online, while creating good-paying union jobs and helping bolster community resilience against the climate crisis.”
The Notice to Proceed, issued by the BLM Wyoming State Office in partnership with the agency’s Colorado and Utah State Offices, authorizes PacifiCorp to begin construction of the 500-kilovolt transmission line, which will run from the Aeolus Substation near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, through Colorado, and ends at the Clover Substation near Mona, Utah. The project is part of PacifiCorp’s larger Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion, a multi-year plan to add approximately 2,000 miles of new transmission lines across the western United States.
The BLM worked with PacifiCorp, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, federal partners, and the states of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah to establish an innovative and collaborative approach to mitigating impacts to be caused by the construction of the line. This approach will fund and establish processes for selecting mitigation projects to offset impacts to Greater Sage-Grouse, lands with wilderness characteristics, and other natural resource values across Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
Additional information, including the National Environmental Policy Act documents, can be found on the BLM’s ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/53044/510. For more information on the Energy Gateway South Transmission Line Project, contact BLM Wyoming Deputy State Director of Communications Brad Purdy at 307-775-6015.
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