The federal Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) said it plans to build a $185 million, 28-mile high-voltage transmission line to move more energy from east of the Cascade Mountains to load centers in western Oregon and Washington. The Big Eddy-Knight transmission power line would run from BPA’s Big Eddy Substation near The Dalles, OR, to a new substation four miles northwest of Goldendale, WA. Before construction can begin, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will conduct a consistency review of the project, which falls within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Following the USFS review, BPA will finalize contract terms and obtain all permits and approvals for a project it claims would create up to 100 new construction-related jobs. The project would be financed in part with borrowing authority included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Voltage
Articles from Voltage
Investigation Set for Blackout in Arizona, Southern California
An investigation involving FERC was launched Friday following a widespread power blackout that started during maintenance of a high-voltage transmission line near Yuma, AZ, leaving more than four million people in the dark Thursday afternoon.
Northwest Transmission Study: 60,000 Jobs at Stake
Up to 60,000 new jobs annually and $55-85 billion in economic activity could be lost if new high-voltage electric transmission lines are not built, according to a report released last Wednesday by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The report was sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s (PNWER) Energy Horizon Project, funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant. INL recommendations include a call for a study of the region’s natural gas transmission pipeline capacity.
Northwest Transmission Study: 60,000 Jobs at Stake
Up to 60,000 new jobs annually and $55-85 billion in economic activity could be lost if new high-voltage electric transmission lines are not built, according to a report released Wednesday by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The report was sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s (PNWER) Energy Horizon Project, funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant. INL recommendations include a call for a study of the region’s natural gas transmission pipeline capacity.
FERC Weighs Using Backstop Authority to Site SoCal Edison’s DPV2
FERC last Monday began consulting with Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) on its proposed Devers-to-Palo Verde 2 (DPV2) high-voltage transmission line, taking its first step under the agency’s new authority to consider a request to site interstate electric transmission facilities in National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors if state regulators have “withheld approval” on a project for more than a year.
IP Sells Transmission System for $239M to Independent Trans-Elect
Illinois Power (IP) on Wednesday agreed to sell its high-voltage electric transmission system for $239 million to Trans-Elect Inc., an independent transmission company. Facilities to be sold include approximately 1,700 miles of 345,000-volt and 138,000-volt transmission lines, 20 transmission substations and the transmission assets within an additional 40 substations.
CT Lawmakers Fail in Efforts to Override Cable Moratorium Veto
Cross Sound Cable Co., the developer of a high-voltage electric transmission cable across Long Island Sound, scored a major victory last week after Connecticut state lawmakers fell short in their efforts to override a veto of legislation by Connecticut Gov. John Rowland that called for a one-year moratorium on the siting of new electric cables and natural gas pipelines in Long Island Sound and would have been applied retroactively to the Cross Sound Cable project and several gas pipeline projects.
