This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Cheyenne, Wyo. • Two power line projects that won federal approval Tuesday will give a big capacity boost to the Western energy grid, including voltage from potentially the biggest wind farm in the U.S.
The TransWest Express project will help California meet its renewable energy goals with wind power from Wyoming.
PacifiCorp plans to increase reliability and capacity with its 416-mile Gateway South project along a roughly similar route ending in central Utah. Construction would begin in the early 2020s.
The Anschutz Corporation's Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm in southern Wyoming will power up to 1 million homes. Anschutz plans to begin building the TransWest Express power lines along a 728-mile route between the wind farm and southern Nevada in 2018.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approvals follow almost a decade of planning.