WASHINGTON D.C. Nov. 1, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the issuing of funds and contracts for three projects, including a 214-mile-long power transmission line between Utah and Nevada.
The Utah-Nevada project is part of a $1.3 billion commitment from the DOE’s Transportation Facilitation Program, according to a press release from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The Utah-Nevada line is the largest of the three projects, along with power transmission line improvements slated for Arizona-New Mexico and New Hampshire-Vermont, the DOE said.
“Today’s announcement of the first projects supported by the Transmission Facilitation Program marks the latest step in implementing the nation’s largest investments ever in strengthening America’s power grid, secured by President Biden in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act,” according to EERE’s Monday press release.
DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, which administers the TFB, also issued a press release Monday listing the anticipated benefits of the Utah-Nevada transmission line.
— Create over 4,100 direct and indirect jobs and stimulate roughly $761 million in total economic activity.
— Generate $9.1 million per year for the region through project development income taxes.
— Enable the delivery of 1,500 megawatts of renewable generation throughout the region, including solar generation in Utah, Nevada, and California, and wind generation in Wyoming and Idaho.
— Provide access to new markets for bottled up existing renewable energy in the region, including new markets for surplus California solar power.
“As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to a $1.3 billion commitment in three transmission lines crossing six states,” reads the EERE statement.
“This historic commitment, made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will advance transformative projects aimed at adding 3.5 gigawatts of additional grid capacity throughout the United States, equivalent to powering approximately 3 million homes, and creating more than 13,000 direct and indirect jobs.”
