Page B1 of today’s Wall Street Journal (see here) had a large article about big proposed long distance power line projects. As discussed in the article, it can take an extremely long time to get these types of projects done, even though they are often planned for the expansion of “green” energy sources. Obtaining the right-of-way can take a long time, not only is it hard to get rights to the land, but people over hundreds of miles can be affected, and if any of them think the new lines are an eyesore they can throw up additional roadblocks.
Below are links to all to the power line projects mentioned in the article, and name of the owner of the project.
Transwest Express: http://www.transwestexpress.net/ (The Anschutz Corporation)
Plains and Eastern: http://www.plainsandeasterncleanline.com/site/home (Clean Line Energy Partners, which has multiple private investors as well as National Grid)
Grain Belt Express: http://www.grainbeltexpresscleanline.com/site/home (Clean Line Energy Partners, which has multiple private investors as well as National Grid)
Champlain Hudson Power Express: http://www.chpexpress.com/ (Owned by a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group)
Southern Cross: http://southerncrosstransmission.com/ (Pattern Energy Group)
Maine Green Line: http://mainegreenline.com/ (National Grid)
New England Clean Power Link: http://necplink.com/ (Owned by a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group)
SunZia Southwest Transmission Project: http://www.sunzia.net/ (Multiple participants in the project, including subsidiaries of Shell and Fortis)
Lake Erie Connector: http://www.itclakeerieconnector.com/ (Project is being done by ITC, which is part of Fortis)
Southline Transmission Project: http://southlinetransmissionproject.com/ (Hunt Family)
Vermont Green Line: http://vermontgreenline.com/ (National Grid)
See my January blog post for some more info on transmission lines here.