BLM to consider more routes for Wyoming-Idaho line
The Bureau of Land Management said Thursday that it’s delaying the siting process for a proposed Wyoming-Idaho electric power transmission line to try to settle issues raised by landowners and local governments along the route.
The agency is postponing the completion date for its draft environmental impact statement for the Gateway West Transmission Line Project from this fall to next spring, BLM Project Manager Walt George said. The time will be used to identify more alternative routes with the project’s developers and local interests.
Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power propose to build the 1,150-mile line to carry wind and other power from Wyoming to Idaho and other points.
The governors of Wyoming and Idaho applauded the BLM’s delay.
“There’s no doubt that we need more and better ways to get electricity from one place to another, especially here in Idaho,” Idaho Gov. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said. “But that can’t mean shortchanging private property rights or engaging in unnecessary conflicts.”
The developers need BLM and U.S. Forest Service right of way grants to construct, operate and maintain the transmission lines. George said the existing proposal would cross about 42 percent federal lands, 10 percent state lands and 48 percent private lands.
The proposed line would start in Glenrock and cross southern Wyoming and southern Idaho to Melba, Idaho. It would require a right of way ranging from 300- to 350-feet depending on the size of the line. Developers plan to construct new 230-kilovolt and 500-kilovolt lines, depending on the segment.
George said the proposed route alternatives have run into opposition in Converse County in Wyoming and in the Idaho counties of Power, Cassia, Ada and Owyhee.
George said it’s not feasible to put the project entirely on public or private land.
“In all of this we’re trying to balance the other resource issues that are important to this project such as wildlife habitat, visual quality, and cultural and historic resources that should be avoided,” he said.
Bruce Pendery of the Wyoming Outdoor Council said he hopes the delay means the proposed route is altered.
“This proposed transmission line has been problematic because it was threatening some special landscapes in the Laramie Mountains in the eastern part of the state, and it was not tracking closely enough along I-80 in the western part of the state,” Pendery said.
The Northern Laramie Range Alliance had also raised concerns about a segment of the line between Glenrock and Medicine Bow. The group questioned whether developers were overbuilding the line in anticipation of more wind-power development in Wyoming.
The utility companies say Gateway West will help boost their transmission capacity and contribute to local economies in both states.
“We remain committed to evaluating all reasonable options and are taking steps to address areas where consideration of additional alternatives may benefit the project and the public,” said Richard Walje, president of Rocky Mountain Power.
Wind energy developers have said transmission bottlenecks are a major hurdle to wind development in Wyoming.
“Transmission is a critical piece of the puzzle that must be developed in concert with renewable energy projects in Wyoming, but it is important that we do it right, so that the affected communities and landowners are comfortable with the outcome,” Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Thursday.
Matt Joyce
Associated Press Writer
16 July 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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