New Nevada transmission line begins serving customers

One Nevada Transmission Line enables 500 kV, 800 MW transmission from Las Vegas to Ely, integrating renewables, improving grid reliability for NV Energy, with LS Power partnership and a DOE loan guarantee.

NV Energy and Great Basin Transmission South officially dedicated the 231-mile long One Nevada Transmission Line ON Line, marking the completion of a three-year project that electrically connects NV Energy's northern and southern service areas for the first time. ON Line also enables the development of renewable energy in remote parts of Nevada.

The bulk transmission line is energized to 500,000 volts and has an initial capacity of up to 800 megawatts, reflecting how new lines expand capacity across the grid today.

The line runs from the Harry Allen Generating Station north of Las Vegas to the new Robinson Summit Substation located just west of Ely, Nev. Eleven separate renewable energy projects are now being served by the new line, which also enhances the overall energy-sharing efficiencies of NV Energy's 10 generating stations located throughout Nevada, and reflects how tribal approvals can enable routing in the region today.

Michael Yackira, NV Energy chief executive officer, said, "The One Nevada Transmission Line plays a vital role in the development of renewable energy, and transmission lines are vital to that progress that will benefit our customers. This project also helps to strengthen our reliability, as well as provide important dispatch capabilities that will help our customers save on energy."

Paul Caudill, NV Energy president, said, "The development of this important transmission asset is an indicator of NV Energy's desire to find new and better ways to serve our customers, even as it becomes harder to build transmission lines across the West, while preserving the environment and natural habitat that make Nevada such a special place."

Nevada Senator Harry Reid said, "Construction of this transmission line created hundreds of jobs for Nevadans, thanks to the public-private partnership that was made possible by the Recovery Act. This vital project will deliver hundreds of megawatts of clean renewable energy to the grid. Completion of the ON Line transmission project is an important step towards unlocking Nevada's vast clean energy potential, alongside the TransWest Express project, and strengthening our state's electric grid for the future."

Great Basin Transmission South, an affiliate of LS Power, owns 75 percent of the line, and NV Energy owns 25 percent of an undivided ownership interest in the project. NV Energy has rights to 100 percent of the line's initial capacity until LS Power completes other potential project phases, collectively known as the Southwest Intertie Project SWIP, a build-out comparable to efforts to link Dry Fork to the grid in neighboring regions today.

Mike Segal, Chairman of LS Power, said, "We are proud to be a part of this important project for the State of Nevada which helps improve grid reliability, efficiency and delivery of renewable energy. We appreciate the efforts of NV Energy, the Department of Energy and the entire ON Line team in realizing this milestone."

The U.S. Department of Energy DOE provided a $343 million loan guarantee to Great Basin Transmission South to help finance the project, illustrating parallel investments such as a new line in Ohio Edison that support grid modernization today. This is the first and only large scale transmission project in the portfolio managed by DOE's Loan Programs Office.

Sturgeon Electric Company, a MYR Group subsidiary, provided construction services for the transmission line, and Wilson Utility Construction Co. built the new substation in White Pine County, Nevada.

The project also includes a new four-mile-long intertie line that connects the new line and substation to NV Energy's northern service territory.

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