NV Energy seeks permit to build more transmission lines
Local power utility NV Energy wants to build another series of transmission lines.
The company filed documents late Tuesday with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada seeking a permit to build roughly 500 miles of lines from Washoe County in Northern Nevada to the Eldorado Valley outside Boulder City. The idea? To connect solar, geothermal and other renewable-energy plants to the grid, and to begin exporting green power from Nevada to other Southwestern States.
NV Energy would build, own and operate the lines, but the utility must gauge interest among renewable developers to determine whether there'll be enough clean-power generation to justify the new transmission capacity. The utility plans to begin gauging that level of interest sometime this month.
Until it can evaluate demand, NV Energy won't be able to say how much the lines will cost or how large they'll be. Plans call for lines ranging from 230 kilovolts to 500 kilovolts.
NV Energy is already codeveloping the One Nevada transmission line (ON Line) with New York energy developer LS Power. The 235-mile line runs from Ely to Apex, and will connect Nevada's northern and southern power grids and transmit renewable power from rural areas, where it's generated, to urban markets, where it's needed. ON Line will cost $500 million to build. NV Energy will own 25 percent of the line and use all of its capacity. The project received a $363 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. ON Line is scheduled for completion in early 2013.
The lines proposed in Tuesday's filing would not be included in the company's upcoming general rate case.
Construction of the lines would need a federal environmental-impact review and approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.
