Work will start in June on a $2.2 billion, 416-mile high voltage transmission line through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, following a federal notice to proceed issued on May 26. The 500-kV line is part of a larger $6-billion transmission expansion across the western U.S. planned by utility giant PacifiCorp, with operations in six states. Other western projects also are moving faster through the U.S. Interior Dept. pipeline.
“Approving large-scale transmission projects like this are key to bringing renewable energy online while creating good-paying union jobs,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, director of Interior's Bureau of Land Management, which approved the PacifiCorp project that is set to have a 1,325-person construction workforce.