Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today applauded the Obama administration's plan to accelerate the now cumbersome process for permitting energy transmission lines.

Building electric transmission lines involves coordination among multiple federal, state, and tribal agencies subject to permitting, review, and consultation.  With the involvement of so many entities, the process for granting permits can take years.

To address this long-standing problem, the administration today announced that it has formed a Rapid Response Team for Transmission comprised of various federal agencies tasked with accelerating the process for granting permission to construct transmission lines.

The Rapid Response Team for Transmission – which includes the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Electric Regulatory Commission, among others – will coordinate permitting, review and consultation schedules. The team also will expeditiously resolve interagency conflicts and ensure that all involved agencies are fully engaged and meeting schedules.

A transmission line known as SunZia Transmission project in southern New Mexico was selected as one of seven nationwide that will undergo the new streamlined process. SunZia is a proposed 500 kV transmission line that would originate at a new substation in Lincoln County in the vicinity of Ancho, New Mexico, and terminate at the Pinal Central Substation in Pinal County near Coolidge, Arizona.  According to the developer estimated job creation will be about 3,408 direct jobs during the construction period.

"Additional transmission projects will be necessary to help meet our nation's future energy needs. I'm glad to see the Federal agencies are coordinating to build on the efforts of this diverse and inclusive group, and I'm confident that this coordinated effort will strengthen and improve America's high-voltage transmission infrastructure," said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The other six projects are Boardman-Hemingway Line powering Oregon and Idaho; Gateway West Project to bring new transmission across Wyoming and Idaho; Hampton-Rochester-La Crosse Line to power to Minnesota and Wisconsin; Oregon to get additional transmission from Cascade Crossing Line; Susquehanna to Roseland Line brings new transmission to Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and Transwest Express to stand-up transmission from Wyoming to Utah and Nevada.

In making the announcement today, the Obama administration pointed out that "improving the overall quality and timeliness of these procedures enables the federal government to help expedite new transmission lines. Adding necessary transmission infrastructure will integrate renewable electricity sources into the grid, accommodate the growing number of electric vehicles on America's roads, help avoid blackouts, restore power more quickly when outages occur, and reduce the need for new power plants."