BLM releases survey for transmission line project

The draft environmental impact survey (DEIS) for a transmission line project to run from a location near Sinclair to a converter station south of Las Vegas, Nev., is ready for public review.

Residents interested in the transmission line project being pursued by TransWest Express can view the DEIS on the BLM’s website. Residents can also attend a public meeting and give their feedback.

Two meetings will be held in Wyoming so residents can provide feedback and voice concerns. The first meeting will take place Aug. 14, at the Jeffrey Center in Rawlins, 315 W. Pine St. The next meeting will take place Aug. 15, at the Valley Community Center in Baggs, 255 W. Osborne.

The BLM will conduct 11 other meetings in Utah, Colorado and Nevada, states the transmission line project will pass through if constructed. All meetings are scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m.

Each meeting will contain information displays about the EIS process and schedule, project locational maps, impacts to resources, potential land use plan amendments, and will provide a station for people to provide written and oral comments on the DEIS. Attendees will have the opportunity to have their verbal comments transcribed by a court reporter for the public record, according to the BLM website.

The BLM must receive written comments on the DEIS by September 30, 2013.

If the transmission line is constructed, it will transport about 3,000 megawatts of electric power from renewable and other energy sources in south-central Wyoming, according to the BLM.

However, TransWest Express does not have a contract with wind energy companies or other energy providers in the region, said Kara Choquette, director of communications for TransWest Express. The company hopes to contract with wind energy developers within the next 12 to 15 months.

TransWest hopes to start construction by the end of 2014, but that deadline depends largely on the process to follow the DEIS project, Choquette said.

TransWest took over the project in 2008 after acquiring duties from National Grid, which originally submitted applications to the BLM in 2007 for the project. The transmission lines, if constructed, will go through Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, covering a total of 760 miles. In Wyoming, the lines will cross over 78 miles of federal, one mile of state and 30 miles of private land.