Interior Secretary to announce SunZia transmission decision in ABQ Saturday

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will be in Albuquerque Saturday with officials from the Departments of Defense and the Bureau of Land Management to announce a so-called “record of decision” on the proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Line in southern New Mexico. The Department of Defense last May withdrew its objections to the SunZia project if parts of the transmission line were buried in White Sands’ “northern extension area” – a call-up zone where ranchers and other are often evacuated for missile tests and exercises. The military had objected to a 45-mile stretch of the line through that zone because of concerns it would interfere with military exercises there. The objections led to nearly year-long impasses on SunZia – a 550-mile project that would carry clean energy from Central New Mexico to Arizona for export to Western markets – after the BLM released its environmental impact statement in June 2013. The military’s objections prevented the BLM from moving forward with a final record of decision on the project. “Saturday’s announcement will highlight the Obama administration’s commitment to job creation and modernizing America’s infrastructure while giving consumers more energy choices,” a press release from the Interior Department said today. “Prior to the announcement, Jewell and others will tour the Sandia National Laboratories for a briefing on alternative energy project research and development.”...more