FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2002
CONTACT: LaVerne Kyriss, 720-962-7051, kyriss@wapa.gov

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- Results of a study to determine the "costs and feasibility of transmission expansion methods and technologies" in Western Area Power Administration's Upper Great Plains are now available on Western's Web site at http://www.wapa.gov/ugp/study/default.htm.

The Montana-Dakotas Regional Transmission Study, authorized by Congress and commissioned by Western, specifically targets transmission system reinforcements and upgrades needed to support an additional 1,000 megawatts of new wind and lignite coal energy generation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The study consists of three volumes.

The Montana Transmission Study--West Side study report-- identifies five potential generation sites in Montana on the western electrical grid for export to the Denver, Salt Lake City and Northwest power markets. The East Side study report is divided into two phases.

Phase 1 identifies generation sites in North and South Dakota on the eastern electrical grid with transmission requirements for moving power to the Minneapolis-St. Paul markets. Phase 2 builds upon the Phase 1 results using the same five project sites in North and South Dakota with transmission extensions

into the Eastern Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois power markets. A fourth companion report, the Transmission Enhancement Technology Report, discusses the application of new technologies to the potential transmission upgrades studied.

The study concludes that significant transmission system upgrades are needed to meet transmission reliability criteria before the proposed generation sites are constructed.

More information and copies of the study documents are posted on Western's web site at http://www.wapa.gov/ugp/study/default.htm.

Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 western states. It is part of the Department of Energy.