nayjevin
10-03-2007, 08:11 AM
By PAUL DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 05:30:22 PM PDT
PHOENIX—Federal designation of swaths of Arizona and Southern California as a critical electric transmission corridor could open the door for a California utility to build a major cross-desert power line that Arizona has rejected, a state regulator said Tuesday.
"This is a step in that direction," said Kris Mayes, an Arizona Corporation Commission member.
One of two "national interest electric transmission corridors" designated by the Department of Energy includes Maricopa, La Paz and Yuma counties in southwestern Arizona and seven California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino.
With the designation of the Southwest Corridor and one in the mid-Atlantic region, the federal government could give a green light to projects that haven't been approved by state or local officials but which are deemed as critical improvements to the energy grid.
Saying the project would benefit California at Arizona's expense, the Arizona Corporation Commission in May denied Southern California Edison's application to build a 200-mile line between the Phoenix area and Palm Springs, Calif.
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 05:30:22 PM PDT
PHOENIX—Federal designation of swaths of Arizona and Southern California as a critical electric transmission corridor could open the door for a California utility to build a major cross-desert power line that Arizona has rejected, a state regulator said Tuesday.
"This is a step in that direction," said Kris Mayes, an Arizona Corporation Commission member.
One of two "national interest electric transmission corridors" designated by the Department of Energy includes Maricopa, La Paz and Yuma counties in southwestern Arizona and seven California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino.
With the designation of the Southwest Corridor and one in the mid-Atlantic region, the federal government could give a green light to projects that haven't been approved by state or local officials but which are deemed as critical improvements to the energy grid.
Saying the project would benefit California at Arizona's expense, the Arizona Corporation Commission in May denied Southern California Edison's application to build a 200-mile line between the Phoenix area and Palm Springs, Calif.