An Obama administration effort to expedite federal agencies' review of the proposed 300-mile, 500-kV Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line through parts of eastern Oregon and southern Idaho has had both positive and negative effects on advancing the project, according to Idaho Power, the utility that started planning the project several years ago.
Doug Dockter, manager of 500-kV projects at Idaho Power, says the Boardman-to-Hemingway line, generally referred to as B2H, would help several utilities in the Pacific Northwest make optimal use of the region's hydroelectric, natural-gas-fired and other generation and delay the need for adding new gas-fired capacity.