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March 8
BPA is proposing a 79
mile 500 kV transmission line along the Oregon- Washington border.
February 13
BPA plans to look at alternatives
to transmission lines such as conservation, distributed generation,
pricing incentives, energy use curtailment and demand-side management.
To be effective, measures must be targeted in areas experiencing
transmission problems.
February 8
The Arizona Corporation Commission has approved
the Southwest Valley
Transmission Line proposed by Arizona Public Service and the Salt River
Project. The 500 kilovolt power line will stretch approximately 37 miles
from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to a substation in the
southwest valley community of Avondale, Arizona.
BPA has proposed a route for the Schultz-Hanford
Area 500-kV Transmission Line Project planned for central Washington.
The proposed 63-mile line would link BPA’s Schultz Substation, near
Ellensburg, to a new substation near the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Hanford Reservation.
January 24
BPA is holding meetings to discuss plans to upgrade
84 miles of transmission line in eastern Washington. The Grand
Coulee-Bell 500-kilovolt Transmission Line Project would increase
transmission capacity from 2,800 MW to 3,500 MW.
October 18
DOE has announced a deal with six parties to build the upgrade of Path 15 in
California. The consortium includes: Pacific Gas & Electric, Trans-Elect
Inc., Kinder Morgan Power Co., PG&E National Energy Group, Williams Energy
Marketing and Trading Co., and the Western Area Power Administration.
July 23
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that thirteen proposals have been
received to build the Path 15 expansion. The Western Area Power Administration is now in the process of reviewing the
13 proposals submitted by the July 13th deadline and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of Energy within 30 days. The agency is also
updating its environmental studies on Path 15 and will seek public comments
through public meetings to be held in late August.
July 9
The Western Area Power Administration has agreed to speed up
environmental studies to approve a proposed power line that would fix the long-standing "Tote 3" electric transmission bottleneck from Wyoming to Colorado's Front Range.
July 6
Wyoming ranchers and farmers have formed a group to represent their interests when companies want to lay
pipelines or power lines through their property. Energy Corridors Inc. results from the increasing need for energy transmission out of the Powder River Basin, where coal bed
methane gas drilling is active.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has given El Paso Energy Corp.
permission to reopen a
damaged pipeline that carries natural gas from New Mexico to Southern
California.
July 3
A plan by scientists and several of the state's utilities to reduce electricity
usage by turning down the voltage on the state's power grid has received the
endorsement of Gov. Gray
Davis.
June 18
Calif. State officials will travel to Southern California this week to hear from local residents about a
proposed high voltage transmission line that would crisscross area subdivisions and
vineyards. The $271 million Valley-
Rainbow Project would connect San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s grid to that of Southern California Edison, helping link the southern portion of the state to power plants being built elsewhere in the Southwest and Mexico.
June 14
About 200 people attended a public comment session on Public Service Co. of New Mexico's
plan to build a 345,000-volt transmission line through Southern
Arizona. It would link a power switchyard near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix and the Santa Ana Substation 60 miles into Mexico.
June 13
A $160 million pipeline expansion has been approved to transport coal bed methane from the Powder River
Basin, nearly tripling the line's capacity. Wyoming Interstate Co. recently received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build the 155-mile line parallel to its 2-year-old Medicine Bow Lateral Pipeline.
Western Area Power Administration is
requesting that
parties interested in "participating in financing and co-ownership of
system additions needed to relieve the constraint on Path 15" contact
WAPA by July 12. There is also a Federal
Register notice and Path
15 information sheet.
June 1
The new Wyoming Energy Commission has begun discussing how to provide more power lines
and power plants to help meet the nation's demand for more electricity. The 15-member commission, led by
non-voting Chairman Gov. Jim Geringer, held its first meeting Wednesday. The commission
plans to meet monthly and present a report for the Legislature by Dec. 15.
To avoid having all price controls removed from its electricity markets, California officials said they will
ask the federal government today to let
the agency that monitors most of the state's power grid qualify as a so-called regional transmission
organization.
May 28
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has directed the Western Area Power
Administration (WAPA) to take the first step toward building the necessary transmission capacity to relieve the bottleneck in California's Path
15.
May 23
With Silicon Valley electricity demands expected to surpass supply next year, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has
received approval to build a 7.3-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line from Fremont to San Jose and a new substation to serve northeast San Jose.
May 17
The Utah Legislature's Energy Policy Task Force met yesterday to
discuss regional transmission bottlenecks. Members were told that if the Western power grid is like the interstate highway network, then
part of the existing energy crisis stems from electrical "traffic jams" at bottlenecks in the grid.
May 9
Western Governors today recommended
several actions that should be initiated to relieve congestion in the
region’s electricity transmission system and to streamline decision-making
to meet future needs as more power comes online.
April 24
Five Wyoming counties are interested in forming a coalition to speed up the permitting process for building
transmission lines to carry power to Colorado. Campbell, Converse,
Niobrara, Laramie and Platte counties
have said they want to join the coalition, and Albany and Goshen counties are being asked to join, said Campbell County Commissioner Alan
Weakly. The coalition would speak with one voice to lobby for quicker approval of lines, he said.
April 10
Governor Gray Davis today announced an agreement between the Department of Water Resources, Southern California Edison, and Edison
International. The utility has agreed to a $2.76 billion deal allowing the state to buy its transmission lines.
In exchange the state's second-largest utility also agreed to a 10-year deal to provide low-cost power to customers.
April 2
Windstorm knocks down power lines adding to California power woes. ISO
calls Stage 2 power alert.
March 15
Bush Administration Offers Opinion On California Proposed Power Grid
Purchase
February 22
The Governor has received a commitment from Nevada Power to fund the
construction of a 500 kv
transmission line, which will provide access to the power grid for the proposed
new power plants. The construction of the power plant and transmission line
will be compatible to completion dates. The Governor will work with all appropriate state and federal agencies to fast-track the construction of the line.
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