ELY — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved NV Energy’s application to construct and operate a 500 kilovolt transmission line linking the power grids in northern and southern Nevada. The One Nevada Transmission Line (ON Line) project will extend approximately 236 miles from the Harry Allen substation, north of Las Vegas to a substation to be constructed west of Ely, Nev.
The power line will link transmission facilities in northern and southern Nevada, and facilitate the development of renewable energy generation in east-central Nevada.
“This power line will be the backbone of the infrastructure necessary to make Nevada a leader in renewable energy generation,” said Rosemary Thomas, BLM Ely District Manager, who signed the Record of Decision (ROD). “We were careful to locate this project where the environmental impacts are minimal, and we have required the applicant to implement a set of best management practices to minimize impacts during construction,” said Thomas.
Copies of the ROD and the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement are available for inspection at the BLM offices in Ely, Caliente, Reno, and Las Vegas, and at public libraries in Ely, Caliente, and North Las Vegas. The document can be downloaded at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/. Click on the Ely District map and then click on the ON Line Draft ROD under “In the Spotlight.”
ON Line had been a component of the proposed Ely Energy Center (EEC), a coal-fired power plant that was to be constructed north of Ely. In February 2009, NV Energy announced it would postpone construction of the EEC pending development of feasible carbon capture technology, but that they would proceed with the ON Line proposal. The BLM issued a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for ON Line in December 2010.
