Obama To Step Up Power Line Projects

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration wants to speed up permitting and construction of seven proposed electric transmission lines in 12 states, as it moves to create jobs and modernize the nation's power grid.

The projects are intended to serve as pilot demonstrations of streamlined federal permitting and improved cooperation among federal, state and tribal governments. The lines will provide electricity in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The projects are expected to create thousands of jobs, help avoid blackouts, restore power more quickly when outages occur and reduce the need for new power plants.

"To compete in the global economy, we need a modern electricity grid," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "An upgraded electricity grid will give consumers choices while promoting energy savings, increasing energy efficiency and fostering the growth of renewable energy resources."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the seven power lines being expedited under the pilot program will serve as important links across the country to increase the capacity and reliability of the nation's power grid.

"This is the kind of critical infrastructure we should be working together to advance in order to create jobs and move our nation toward energy independence," he said.

David DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities, and Ralph LaRossa, president of Public Service Electric and Gas. Co., who are teaming up to build a 145-mile transmission line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, applauded the administration's efforts. Their project and others should ensure that high-priority electric infrastructure projects are built and placed in service in a timely manner, the power executives said.

Pam Eaton, deputy vice president for public lands at The Wilderness Society, also hailed the project.

"Building responsibly sited power lines to access world-class renewable resources can put thousands of Americans to work, bring cost-effective clean power to people who need it, and help some of the rural counties in the West hardest hit by the economic downturn," she said.

The projects are:

-- A 500 kilovolt (kV), 300-mile transmission line proposed by Idaho Power in Oregon and Idaho.

-- 1,150 miles of high-voltage lines across Wyoming and Idaho.

-- A 210-mile, 500 kV line near Salem, Ore.

-- Two 500 kV transmission lines in Arizona and New Mexico.

-- A 700-mile, 600 kV transmission line in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. The project is intended to help develop new wind projects in Wyoming.

-- A 345 kV transmission line in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

-- A 145-mile, 500 kV transmission line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

A formal announcement was expected Wednesday. A copy of the plan was obtained by The Associated Press.

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