Dive Brief:

• Developers of the new 2,000 MW Southern Cross high voltage transmission line have filed an application with the Mississippi Public Service Commission, with an eye towards delivering power in 2021.
• The $1.4 billion project would move Texas wind to markets in the southeast, and includes construction of 400 miles of line across Louisiana and Mississippi. 
• The project would interconnect with the Electric Reliability Council fo Texas grid near the Western HVDC Converter Station, running to an interconnect with the Southeast electrical grid near the Eastern HVDC station.

Dive Insight:

Pattern Development says its wants to begin construction on the transmission project next year, touting the economic impact of the project. In Louisiana and Mississippi, the company claims direct benefits of more than $1 billion for each state — on top of providing buyers for wind energy and cleaner supplies of power in the Southeast.

Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Development, said the group has been working for years "to identify the optimal placement of the line" by working with towns, landowners and farmers.

"All of the capital investment required for the project is being provided by private investors," Garland noted, adding that the line would be "the only project to connect low-cost renewable energy in Texas to the Southeast while also creating jobs and generating strong economic benefit."

Pattern's preferred route for the project would cross the Mississippi River in Issaquena County and continue eastward through 10 other counties before terminating at a converter station to be built in Lowndes County. Developers say landowners along the route will receive notice by letter in the coming weeks, and that the boards of supervisors in each county have indicated support for the project.

A recent study touted by Pattern Development found $441 million in property taxes would be generated in Louisiana and Mississippi, over three decades of operation. The company has previously worked on HVDC lines, including the Trans Bay Cable project under San Francisco Bay.