TRANSWEST EXPRESS TRANSMISSION PROJECT
The TransWest Express Transmission Project is a proposed extra high voltage, direct current overhead transmission line that would run about 728 miles from south-central Wyoming, crossing Colorado and Utah, to the Marketplace Hub about 25 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. This Project would include two AC/DC converter stations, about 200 acres in size at each terminating point, a fiber optic network communications system, and two ground electrode facilities, each about 600 acres in size. When completed, this Project would have the capacity to transmit about 3,000 megawatts of electricity generated primarily from renewable resources at planned facilities in Wyoming.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Wyoming State Office and WAPA are co-lead agencies for the preparation of the environmental impact statement.
RECORDS OF DECISIONS ISSUED
As co-lead agencies for the EIS, the Bureau of Land Management and WAPA issued separate records of decision, or ROD. BLM’s ROD is available on the BLM TransWest Express website.
On Jan. 13, 2017, WAPA announced its ROD in a news release. Read the record of decision as part of WAPA’s NEPA-related documents.
FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT RELEASED
The Bureau of Land Management and WAPA announced the publication of the TransWest Express Transmission Project Final Environmental Impact Statement, April 30, 2015. The Final EIS responds to comments received on the draft EIS and agency-preferred alternative by making clarifications and adjusting some routes. The document is the result of a comprehensive analysis process involving Native American Tribes, federal and state agencies, state and local governments and interested parties to study options for a balance of uses in the planning area.
More information about the EIS is available on BLM’s TransWest Express Project website.
PROJECT DOCUMENTS
ALL NEPA-related documents are maintained on the BLM TransWest Express Transmission Line Project site.
- WAPA’s Record of Decision regarding TransWest Express Project, Jan. 13, 2017
- Federal Register Notice of Availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement, May 1, 2015
- Federal Register Notice of Availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, July 3, 2013
- Federal Register Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, January 4, 2011 (146 kb pdf)
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RESOURCES
WAPA CONTACT INFORMATION
Regional Environmental Manager, J0400
Rocky Mountain Region
Western Area Power Administration
5555 East Crossroads Avenue
Loveland, CO 80550
JWood@wapa.gov
Last modified on May 6th, 2024