PacifiCorp investing $4 billion in transmission lines
May 30, 2007 - bizjournals.com
PacifiCorp will spend more than $4 billion
to build high-voltage transmission lines connecting
Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and the Southwest.
The 1,200-mile network will carry 500
kilovolts of power in Wyoming connecting to 1.7 million
customers in the West served by Pacific Power and
its sibling, Rocky Mountain Power.
PacifiCorp operates as Pacific Power
in Oregon, Washington and California, and as Rocky
Mountain Power in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
"We are pleased to announce these projects
as a clear signal to our retail customers, regulators
and transmission customers that we are taking steps
now to ensure our system is adequate and capable of
meeting future customer load growth and regional needs,"
said Pat Reiten, president of Pacific Power, in a
press release.
The two lines will deliver power to
high-growth areas and will help existing customers
in Washington, California and Oregon tap into renewable
energy facilities, such as wind farms, in development
in Wyoming and neighboring states.
Completion is expected in 2014.
In related news, PacifiCorp said it
has an agreement with Idaho Power Co. to cooperate
on a line that will connect a jointly owned power
plant in Wyoming to southeastern Idaho, Utah and Oregon.
More than 600 miles of line will be
capable of delivering up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity
from Wyoming to Idaho and into Utah, and up to 2,500
megawatts between Idaho and Oregon.
"Idaho Power is pleased to continue
our long-standing relationship with Pacific Power
by jointly working to develop regional-scale projects
that would serve our growing customer needs," said
LaMont Keen, president of Idaho Power, in a joint
press release.
Another major line will carry up to
3,000 megawatts between Wyoming and central Utah's
Juab County.
PacifiCorp was acquired in 2006 by MidAmerican
Energy Holdings Co., a holding of Berkshire Hathaway.
The company pledged to remain an active
participant in additional regional transmission projects,
including the Frontier Line and TransWest Express
Line, the first projects to be built under the oversight
of the Northern Tier Transmission Group.
The group is a coalition of public and
private utilities, government agencies and power customers.
"Taken as a whole, all of the projects
are critical to shaping and strengthening the West's
transmission system and ensuring reliable, efficient,
coordinated service," said John Cupparo, vice president
for transmission for PacifiCorp.
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