The Anschutz Corporation, through an affiliate Transwest Express LLC, has acquired the rights to develop a proposed $3 billion, 900-mile, 3,000 megawatt high-voltage transmission line to bring electricity from wind farms in southern Wyoming to growing markets of southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

The company, in an announcement Tuesday, said the TransWest Project will have the potential to meet 25 percent of the forecasted 2020 clean energy needs for the Desert Southwest.

Another Anschutz affiliate, Power Company of Wyoming, LCC, already has started work developing a 2,000 megawatt wind farm project in Carbon County Wyoming.

"There is good reason to be optimistic that wind-generated power in Wyoming can actually be delivered to markets in the Desert Southwest through a major wind-dedicated transmission system," said Bill Miller, president of TransWest.

Miller said the next steps will be permitting the transmission line and detailed engineering work.

Arizona Public Service Company will participate in the project in an advisory role, with the potential for a future equity position.

Anschutz acquired the transmission project rights from the project's initial developer, National Grid, which delivers electric power to 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It's also a major natural gas distributor.

The company recently conducted a study of the potential for wind power generation in the west and concluded that southern Wyoming is among the best sites for development.

Demands from various states to increase the percentage of total power generation from alternative sources will require $100 billion in new investment over the next dozen years to meet so-called "renewable portfolio standards," National Grid said in its study.