SAN FRANCISCO - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the governors of Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have agreed to build an estimated $20 billion electricity transmission system to meet rising demand for power, Wyoming's governor said Monday.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said on a conference call the "Frontier Line" system would supply electricity-hungry California -- where power demand is growing at about 4 percent annually, or double the national average -- with power from nearby energy-producing states.
Fast-growing Las Vegas, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah also would be served by the system, which is expected to need up to $5 billion in transmission lines and facilities and up to $15 billion in power plants.
"We are prepared to move forward," Freudenthal said. "It is our expectation that this effort will lead to benefits for all of the states involved."
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said his state may join the effort, which would build infrastructure across the western United States to deliver 12,000 megawatts of power, or enough electricity for up to 12 million homes. Coal-fired plants would provide half that amount and wind power the remainder.
Officials said they are forming a committee that would develop feasibility and financing plans for the project. Third-party developers would build the system, which could be operating by 2011, with California as its biggest customer.
Demand for electricity in California hit record highs on seven occasions last summer, peaking at nearly 46,000 megawatts on Sept. 8. The state was forced to order blackouts during its energy emergency in 2000-2001.
In the latest sign of the need for more power, Southern California may have to take aggressive conservation steps to avoid electricity shortages should the coming summer be unusually hot, the operator of the state's power grid said last week.
The system operator said a prolonged heat wave in Southern California could leave the region with "critically thin operating margins" and a shortfall of up to about 1,700 megawatts, which could affect about 1.7 million homes.
Southern California still needs transmission upgrades and new power plants to meet rising demand with adequate reserves, despite some recent upgrades.
Although a transmission corridor -- Path 15 -- connecting Northern and Southern California has been expanded, congestion remains on the corridor farther south -- Path 26 -- limiting the delivery of surplus electricity from north to south.
Western states are connected now by big transmission corridors like the north-south Pacific Intertie running from Washington state to California and east-west lines, but power planners have been working to build new pathways to serve the region's growth.
(Additional reporting by Leonard Anderson)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
