Western governors OK project to improve power grid

SALT LAKE CITY - The governors of four Western states announced their support Monday for the building of 1,300 miles of power lines that would carry electricity from the coal fields of Wyoming to energy-starved Southern California.

In a memorandum of agreement, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal established a compact to try to speed government and regulatory approvals for the power lines and the plants that would generate electricity.

Guinn said the project would not only provide economic benefits to all the states but improve the reliability of the west's high-voltage transmission grid.

He said the agreement creates a coordinating committee to develop the "Frontier Line." He said the states have already identified a preliminary route for the transmission line. That committee will serve as "surrogate developer" to get the project going.

"There's a growing recognition in the West that what was once viewed exclusively as a California need is a western problem," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, a key player in the effort. "California is probably within a few years of being up against the wall on energy demand that will siphon capacity from West."

The Frontier Line project, conceived by Freudenthal and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt in 2003, would begin delivering electricity to booming Southern California, Nevada and possibly Utah as early as 2011. The transmission lines are expected to cost about $2 billion.

The governors are hoping that the transmission-line project will encourage energy companies to build power plants in Wyoming and elsewhere in the West.

The new power plants would be able to produce as much as 12,000 megawatts of electricity, which could power up to 10 million homes. They are expected to use a combination of coal and renewable fuels.

The governors have set up a committee that will hire consultants for the project, recruit developers and line up financing, which is expected to come from the states and matching federal funds. Eventually, the states could be reimbursed by the project's main developer.

No utility companies have signed on the project yet, though officials said the West's four main companies have been briefed on the work - PacificCorp in Wyoming and Utah, Sierra Pacific Resources Inc. in Nevada and Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in California.

The plan comes as Southern California prepares to face another summer with tight power supplies. California suffered a power shortage in 2000 and 2001 that led to rolling blackouts.

Electricity consumption in the West has grown 60 percent over the past 20 years, but the region's transmission system has expanded only by 20 percent.