Southline Transmission Line Project update

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently completed two meetings with federal, state and county agencies as part of the process of developing alternatives for the Southline Transmission Line Project. The meetings were an opportunity for the agencies to review the preliminary alternative routes being considered by the BLM and Western Area Power Administration (Western) for the proposed project and to identify concerns and issues with any of the alternative routes. This is an important step in the preparation of the environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS provides the basis for a decision on the use of public lands. BLM New Mexico is the lead agency preparing the Southline EIS. Western is a co-lead on the project. Southline Transmission, LLC, proposes constructing a high-voltage power line in two segments. The first segment would be a new double-circuit 345-kilovolt line from a substation in Afton, New Mexico (south of Las Cruces), to a substation in Apache, Arizona (south of Willcox). The second segment would be an upgrade and rebuild of existing transmission lines between the Apache Substation and the Saguaro Substation, which is north of Tucson, Arizona. The proposed transmission line would cross both public, state trust, and private lands...more