Sierra Pacific ups the amps to serve Highway 50 corridor

Sierra Pacific Power Company is laying a 20-mile line across Tahoe Reno Industrial Center to better serve growth along the Highway 50 corridor in Silver Springs, Dayton and Carson City.

It will increase power availability by 40 megawatts, a 15 percent increase over present capacity.

But that's not in anticipation of future growth, says company spokesperson Faye Andersen. That boost is needed just to serve the existing boom.

The four-phase project, begun in 2004, is slated for completion in summer 2008, when the Emma substation goes in north of Dayton. There, the line from Tracy to Dayton meets the line from Fort Churchill to Steamboat Station.

"We do a 20-year plan, update it every three years," says Andersen.

Meanwhile, Nevada Department of Transportation is widening Highway 50 to serve burgeoning residential growth. Already Dayton Valley residents stream through once-quiet Virginia City en route to jobs in Reno.

Residents of Virginia Highlands fearing increased commuter flow turned out to protest another planned housing project at a Storey County Commission meeting. The proposed Corde Vista development may add 1,700 houses at the eastern end of Dayton Valley.

The 8,000-acre parcel is situated on the southeast corner of Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, in Lyon County.

USA Parkway, a privately built road serving tenants at Tahoe Reno Industrial Park, ultimately will link Interstate 80 to Highway 50. But no completion date is in sight.