MURRAY, Utah -- Construction of the Intermountain Power Project's 490-mile transmission line from the IPP plant in western Utah to Southern California was completed this week, utility officials say.
The eastern leg, from the 1,500-megawatt plant near Delta, Utah, and the western segment from Adelanto, Calif., were linked together Monday in Moapa, Nev., IPP spokeswoman Ann Garrett said Tuesday.
Construction on the $1.1 billion transmission line took more than 16 months to complete. The line has a capacity of 500 kilovolts and is one of the longest high-voltage, direct-current lines in the country.
'We will energize the system next month to test the 17 million feet of multi-strand aluminum wires and the converter stations,' Garrett said.
The converter stations change the power generated at IPP from alternating current to direct current and then back to alterating at Adelanto, Calif., Transmitting electricity over long distances 'involves considerable power loss. The use of direct current reduces that loss dramatically,' Garrett said.
Testing of the line will take almost a year, she said. The first IPP unit is scheduled to go on line next July. The second unit will go into service one year later.
The Los Angeles municipal power system and five other Southern California municipal power companies will buy at least 75 percent of the IPP's power. They also have agreed to purchase most of the plant's excess power from about 30 Utah utilities and power cooperatives that have participated in construction of the coal-fired plant.
Construction of the power line will also help western utilities, said Reece Nielsen, chairman of the Intermountain Power Agency which owns the IPP plant.
'The western power transmission grid has long suffered from the lack of a line to Southern California,' Nielsen said. 'This important connection represents enormous benefit to the people of the region.'
