“SunZia will help carry New Mexico wind and solar to larger markets in the West,” Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy, a New Mexico-based clean energy and low-carbon economy advocacy organization, told ThinkProgress. “There is so much possibility with the advance of both utility scale and decentralized renewable energy generation to displace fossil fuels that are threatening our climate, health and economy.”
The SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, which will tap wind resources in New Mexico and solar and geothermal in New Mexico and Arizona, was proposed in 2009. In 2013 it encountered serious pushback from Republican leaders in New Mexico who argued that the route could disrupt the country’s national security efforts. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez sent a letter to the DIO warning that the route could interfere with the Army’s White Sands Missile Range. She argued that a 45-mile stretch of the route interfered with a region where missiles were tested.
The Bureau of Land Management addressed these concerns, and in working with the Department of Defense will now be burying three short segments of the transmission lines as they pass near the missile range. According to the DIO, the route also avoids major population centers, cultural sites, highways, and pipelines where possible. The project includes two parallel 500-kilovolt transmission lines and related facilities located on federal, state and private lands.
Read more at Transmission Line that Could Bring Wind and Solar Power to Millions in West Gets Go-Ahead
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