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Plans for Nevada Coal Plant Not Being Fired Up

by Climate Weekly – March 17, 2009

Power generation, transmission, and investment company LS Power is shelving its plan indefinitely to build the controversial White Pine Energy Station coal-fired plant in Ely, Nev. The privately held company said it will concentrate its efforts on completing a 500-mile renewable energy transmission line that will stretch from southern Idaho to the Las Vegas area.

SWIP At Work

LS Power said SWIP will help facilitate the transmission of renewable energy sources, including geothermal, wind, and solar energy, which exist in plentiful amounts in Nevada, according to the Western Governor's Association, to the state's remote areas.

The permitting and design of the transmission line, known as the Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP), is nearly complete, LS Power reported, saying the company's affiliate, Great Basin Transmission, LLC, could begin construction by June of this year. Once completed, SWIP would be the most advanced long-distance high-capacity transmission project in the western United States.

"As demand for renewable energy increases we are focusing more and more of our internal resources on providing transmission solutions for oth renewable project developers and load serving entities," said Paul Thessen, president of LS Power. "The SWIP is our most advanced transmission project and we are focused on breaking ground on the project this year," he added.