The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a 732-mile transmission line across federal lands to move wind energy to Nevada from Wyoming.
BLM issued the notice to proceed (NTP) for the TransWest Express Project (TWE), which would carry 3 GW of capacity generated from the largest onshore wind generation project in North America, according to BLM. Denver-based TransWest Express LLC heads the project.
CEO Bill Miller said construction should begin before the end of the year. The first stage of the $3 billion project is expected to be completed in 2027.
“Public lands continue to play a vital role in advancing President Biden’s goal of achieving a net-zero economy by 2050,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “This large-scale transmission line will put people to work across our public lands and will help deliver clean, renewable energy. Our responsible use of public lands today can help ensure a clean energy future for us all.”
Most of the TWE is on federal lands. The Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project in Carbon County, WY is also partially on federal lands. Construction on the $5 billion, 600-turbine project began last April, according to the Power Company of Wyoming LLC, which owns the project.
The project would support the Biden administration’s goal to permit at least 25 GW of solar, wind and geothermal production on public lands by 2025.
Late last year, TWE received approval from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to become a participating member in the region, which includes 80% of the state and a portion of Nevada.
This is the BLM’s second approval for a multi-state transmission line in Wyoming in less than one year. Last May, PacifiCorp received approval for the Energy Gateway South Transmission project, which would deliver electricity from about 2 GW of solar, wind and geothermal production.
The project’s NTP comes as inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed inflation for electricity services in March increased 10.2% in contrast to the overall Consumer Price Index.
“Amid skyrocketing electricity prices, FERC continues to abdicate its responsibility to require transmission projects be competitively bid. For the sake of the consumer, I hope that FERC will look at these inflation numbers and support transmission competition to bring lower electricity prices to Americans across the country,” said Electricity Competition Coalition Chairman Paul Cicio.
In the last year, the BLM Wyoming State Office also sanctioned ExxonMobil's carbon sequestration project, which became the first of its kind to gain approval on federal lands.
And while industry coalitions from five states have called for speedier approvals for similar sequestration projects, oil and gas project permitting and leasing may be even more stranded.
BLM recently issued a proposal to change how public lands are managed to put conservation on equal footing as other uses, including oil and natural gas extraction. The proposal from the federal agency, which manages more than 245 million acres of public land in 12 western states, builds on other changes announced by the Biden administration as it aims to curb new oil and natural gas drilling on public lands.
The BLM plan for conservation leasing would entail a time-limited lease of public land that allows interested organizations to conduct specific restoration or mitigation activities. These leases also would generate revenue, which could include establishing carbon markets.
NEPA Effect
BLM statistics from 2022 showed that “100% of proposed oil and natural gas lease parcels were protested for the first time in 25 years,” Western Energy Association (WEA) President Kathleen Sgamma stated in a letter to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Director Jomar Maldonado. Such protests have led to increasing delays for projects. The American Petroleum Institute estimated that $157 billion of energy investments are held up.
The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in January updated Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change. Under the updated guidance, which is in effect, NEPA reviews for oil and natural gas projects must quantify proposed greenhouse gas emissions..
The guidance is “another means to ensure energy inflation remains far into the future,” Sgamma said.
“Oil and natural gas enable renewables by creating the materials to make wind turbines and solar panels. Natural gas is the best back-up to renewable energy when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. None of today’s alternative energy sources do everything that oil and natural gas do,” Sgamma said.
The WEA represents more than 200 independent oil and gas producers and is engaged in federal leasing development and production on public lands states including California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
