Western Regional Transmission Expansion
Partnership Completes Frontier Line Feasibility Study
Partnership
to Move to a Phase II Development Study
April 30, 2007 –
The Western Regional Transmission Expansion Partnership today completed and
transmitted to four Western governors the Frontier Line feasibility study.
The Frontier Line
is a proposed interstate high-voltage electric transmission grid, originating
in Wyoming,
with terminal connections in other Western states, that would carry several
thousand megawatts of new renewable-generated and clean coal power.
The year-long
feasibility study concludes that the Frontier Line has positive economic value
under a variety of scenarios and a range of key input drivers, such as the
price of natural gas, greenhouse gas allowances, and capital costs for clean coal technologies, including IGCC (integrated
gasification combined cycle technology) and carbon dioxide sequestration.
Members of the
partnership include Nevada Power Company; Pacific Gas & Electric; PacifiCorp;
Rocky Mountain Power; San Diego Gas & Electric; Sierra Pacific Power
Company; and Southern California Edison. The study also was coordinated with
the TransWest Express transmission project, and Arizona Public Service and
Public Service of New Mexico participated in the partnership’s study.
The Frontier Line
process will now move to a phase II development study, the first component of
which will be a participation agreement, opened to entities interested in
participating in the development study, which will set forth the funding
allocation of the Phase II studies. The participation agreement will be the
subject of the partnership’s June 20 meeting in San Diego.
The Frontier Line
project concept builds on the work of the 2004 Rocky Mountain Area Transmission
Study and an April 4, 2005 memorandum of understanding among the governors of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
The project grows out of the governors’ determination to deal with:
- Substantial load growth in the West;
- Constrained electric transmission;
- Increased consumer demand for access to clean
and renewable energy resources, most of which are located in remote areas far
from existing electric transmission routes; and
- The need for a stronger grid to enhance the
reliability of the West’s transmission system; ease transmission bottlenecks;
enhance domestic energy security; help lower energy costs and reduce the
volatility of electricity prices; and contribute to the development and
deployment of new technologies designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases.
The Phase II
development study will analyze such factors and issues as carbon dioxide capture and sequestration costs; capacity
factors for Wyoming
wind; local reliability benefits; and
synergies among other regional transmission projects. The study will also
perform power system technical studies, production simulation analyses, and a
state-by-state benefit/cost analysis. The end result of Phase II will be
a defined project plan that will narrow the feasibility study options down to
one or two transmission alternatives; identify a preferred and alternate
corridor route; and determine the methodology for allocating costs and
transmission rights and legal structure of the project.
The full text of
the Frontier Line feasibility study can be downloaded here. Appendix D to the feasibility study, a list of participating stakeholders, can be downloaded here.
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