Dive Brief:
- Starting this month, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management panel will hold public meetings in an effort to get an agreement for a path for a major power line project proposed in Idaho.
- Last month, BLM declined to make a decision on the western portion of the Gateway West project, a set of 230-kV and 500-kV lines that will run about 990 miles between Glenrock in eastern Wyoming and the Hemingway substation near Melba in southwest Idaho. BLM approved the Wyoming to central Idaho part of the project.
- BLM said it needed more time to find common ground for the project's western Idaho portion, which would cross critical bird habitat and has been opposed by towns and counties.
Dive Insight:
The western leg of Gateway West is needed to gain increased access to power markets in the Northwest. Idaho Power, which is proposing the project with PacifiCorp, viewed the western leg as a key justification for the project. Utilities, generators and transmission developers will be watching closely to see if BLM can reach an agreement over the power line's route.