www.windaction.org | Transmission

Same old electrical transmission problems still stymie Western states
October 27, 2009 by Dustin Bleizeffer in Casper Star-Tribune

Western states seem to have a wide portfolio of energy resources and the consumer markets to better meet the ambitions of both energy-producing states and energy-importing states. What's missing is a strategy for beefing up and modernizing the Western electrical grid to make those connections, according to industry officials. "We can't even connect the dots on a piece of paper. It's like the weather -- everybody talks about it, but nobody ever does anything about it," said Richard Walje, president of Rocky Mountain Power.

Also filed under [ Wyoming]

Samsung deal worries Essex County green power firms; Are local projects in jeopardy?
January 23, 2010 by Gary Rennie and Dave Hall in The Windsor Star

Ontario's $7-billion energy deal with South Korea's Samsung Group could jeopardize construction of Essex County's biggest wind turbine project, which has had eight years of local planning and environmental study. Brookfield Renewable Power wants to build close to 100 turbines in Lakeshore with a cost in excess of $400 million for the 200-megawatt project.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| Canada]

SCE gets an earful; Residents protest new power lines
June 24, 2011 by Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino in Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

As their day in court approaches, Chino Hills residents are stepping up their fight against Southern California Edison's Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project.

Also filed under [ California]

SDG&E celebrates opening of substation near alpine and completion of Sunrise Powerlink
July 27, 2012 by Miriam Raftery in East County Magazine

Atop a former mountaintop blasted away for the project's construction, Governor Jerry Brown and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined with energy industry executives to celebrate what they view as a milestone in meeting the state's ambitious renewable energy goals. Hailing Powerlink as a "great project", Governor Brown acknowledged that "every step forward is met with resistance," then quipped, "There's more here than were protesting down the street."

Also filed under [ California]

Senate committee hears testimony on eminent domain bill
March 4, 2011 by Karl Puckett in Great Falls Tribune

"This is just a sweetheart deal for a Canadian company, and allows them to condemn Montana farmland for their own use - and that's just absolutely wrong," said Larry Martin, a farmer from Conrad who owns land in path of MATL.

Also filed under [ Montana]

Senators try to prevent Quebec transmission line
May 15, 2012 by Brian Amaral in Watertown Daily Times

The senators - led by state Sen. George Maziarz, a Western New York Republican, and joined by state Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton - say upstate jobs are at stake if a $2 billion transmission line proposal is approved because it would squeeze out energy producers in the state, like nuclear power plants, facilities that burn wood to create electricity and wind turbine farms.

Also filed under [ New York| Canada]

Shifting winds: MSTI investment in peril?
February 13, 2011 by Justin Post in Montana Standard

Vincent questions whether the California decision will leave investors and developers reluctant to invest in new transmission. "That puts a big question mark over whether it's worthy of the investment," he said. "Every article that I've read about it has essentially said in one way or the other that this is bad news for Washington, Oregon and Montana wind. It has got to almost change the paradigm."

Also filed under [ California| Montana]

Shumlin entertains idea of power corridor in Vermont
July 12, 2011 by Anne Galloway in VT Digger

Shumlin suggested that Vermont, or another state, could “negotiate a preferential price in exchange for hosting that corridor.” “Canada has cheap renewable hydro power that can work as a reliable load (power) when the wind isn’t blowing, and the sun isn’t shining...,” Shumlin said.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

Sierra Club fights CMP project
March 25, 2010 by Tux Turkel in Bangor Daily News

Central Maine Power Co.'s proposal to upgrade the reliability of its transmission system faces a new threat: wetlands. The Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club says the $1.6 billion project would destroy 385 acres of wetlands and 1,200 linear feet of streams. In a letter dated March 15, it told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the agency can't approve construction if there are alternatives that reduce the impact on the environment.

Also filed under [ Maine]

Some land owners saying transmission lines are the downside to wind energy
February 27, 2010 by Michelle Seeber in Enid News and Eagle

Wind energy often is described as a win-win situation, but Gary Stocking said he sees "a sacrificial lamb" when it comes to developing transmission lines to carry the electricity harnessed by wind turbines. "The lamb is the landowner," Stocking said during a public meeting last week in Buffalo to discuss the development of transmission lines in Harper County.

Also filed under [ Oklahoma]

SPP execs cannot explain why power line costs were not rigorously studied
November 23, 2010 by Lynn Doan in SNL Financial LC

While being grilled by Missouri regulators on the rising costs of planned transmission lines, Southwest Power Pool Inc.'s CEO and a senior vice president said Nov. 23 that they "don't know" why the initial cost estimates were not more rigorously examined for accuracy.

Also filed under [ USA| Missouri| Oklahoma]

Stalled eminent domain bill threatens 214-mile power line
April 12, 2011 by John S. Adams in Great Falls Tribune

Supporters of the bill are doubtful that there are enough votes in the 50-member Senate to blast the bill onto the floor, meaning the bill is probably dead unless supporters are able to muster enough votes to force a floor debate.

Also filed under [ Montana]

State energy project raises NYRI fears
April 23, 2012 by Elizabeth Cooper in Observer-Dispatch

And as representatives from utility companies, the energy industry and the banks that fund them convene to discuss the future of the state's power grid, local officials and residents who fought NYRI say they are hopeful their plans won't hurt local communities.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| New York]

State Supreme Court to hear DNR-Attorney General dispute
July 2, 2010 by K.C. Mehaffey in Wenatchee World

Also filed under [ Washington]

Strange bedfellows join forces to kill power-line-siting bill
April 24, 2011 by Tony Davis in Arizona Daily Star

The farm bureau and cattle growers sided with environmental groups, with whom they often are at loggerheads, such as the Sierra Club, as well as grass-roots activists in rural communities such as the Cascabel Working Group north of Benson and residents in Picture Rocks northwest of Tucson.

Also filed under [ Arizona]

Study of energy corridors beset by complications
November 17, 2009 by Tux Turkel in Press Herald

Supporters of liquefied natural gas terminals have thrown a late snag into what has been an orderly process to create rules for developing multibillion-dollar energy corridors in Maine. LNG representatives want to extend the current moratorium on energy corridors and create a government commission to do more reviews. Their proposal was filed late last week with the special study group already debating policy for energy corridors.

Also filed under [ General| Maine]

Sudden surplus calls for quick thinking
July 6, 2010 by Matthew L. Wald in New York Times

Engineers say that if the power grid becomes more reliant on renewable energy, a lot of new transmission lines will have to be built at some point or there will be unhappy consequences. Mostly this problem has been predicted rather than experienced. But the future may have arrived last month.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy| USA| Washington]

Sunrise Powerlink clears major hurdle
July 16, 2010 by Ed Joyce in KPBS

This is a significant a approval in that it's the third agency to give the power company the go ahead, the okay. Opponents of the power link would suggest that this is not the end of the road. This is not the final approval, and some other things are needed. They will be challenging that along the way.

Also filed under [ California]

SunZia power transmission line could run through White Sands, Las Cruces
October 27, 2009 by Steve Ramirez in Silver City Sun-News

A power transmission line that could be the first in the United States to transport renewable energy might pass through Las Cruces and White Sands Missile Range, according to preliminary plans of the SunZia Transmission Project. A public scoping meeting was conducted Monday at Court Youth Center to provide interested residents with information about the project. Plans call for wind energy generated in east-central New Mexico, near Clovis, to be transported 460 to 560 miles to a substation in south-central Arizona.

Also filed under [ Arizona| New Mexico]