Officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service have signed records of decision (RODs) approving a right of way across federal land for the Sigurd to Red Butte No. 2 - 345 kV Transmission Line Project, which could provide key grid access for wind energy projects in the region.
The BLM says the transmission line comes in response to anticipated load growth in southwestern Utah, and will provide approximately 600 MW when it is complete.
The signing of the RODs for this project will allow PacifiCorp (doing business as Rocky Mountain Power) to construct, operate and maintain a single-circuit, alternating-current, 345 kV overhead transmission line. The transmission line would run approximately 170 miles from the existing Sigurd Substation near Richfield, Utah, to the existing Red Butte Substation in Washington County, Utah. The requested right-of-way width for the construction and operation of the line on federal lands is 150 feet.
Approximately 113 miles (67%) of the transmission-line route would be located on lands administered by three BLM-Utah field offices (Cedar City, Fillmore and Richfield Field Offices) and two national forests (Dixie and Fishlake National Forests), which required that PacifiCorp request a right of way from both the BLM and the Forest Service.
The Forest Service will issue a special-use permit for the project and will sign a separate ROD. The RODs were prepared after a 30-day waiting period on the final environmental impact statement, which was released on Oct. 5.
