NV Energy ends pursuit of Carson-Dayton power line

If momentum for a proposed 120-kilovolt transmission line between Carson City and a substation near Dayton was slow before, it's nonexistent now.

There's been little movement on the project since May 2010, when NV Energy re-evaluated the need for extra power in the area. On Tuesday, NV Energy formally withdrew its application for a right-of-way grant from the federal Bureau of Land Management, meaning the utility would need to completely restart a federally mandated analysis if it picked the project back up.

The grant would have authorized the utility to construct, operate and maintain the transmission line where it fell on federal land in Carson City and Storey, Lyon and Douglas counties.

The first public meeting was held on the project in October 2008. It stalled in May 2010 before NV Energy completed the required environmental impact study, according to a statement from the BLM. The study will not be completed, according to the statement.

"During the planning phase for the project, this area was one of the fastest-growing areas in the state," NV Energy spokeswoman Faye Andersen wrote in an email.

NV Energy conducted a current electric load forecast more recently, which determined it wasn't needed, she wrote. According to a 2010 load study, extra power wouldn't be needed until 2020, several years later than earlier predictions.

Andersen did not say whether there were plans to pursue the project in the future. According to the BLM, NV Energy would need to file new right-of-way applications if it pursued the project again, which would include public meetings.