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June 20 (UPI) -- Workers broke ground Tuesday on a new high-voltage transmission line electrical line that will run from Wyoming to Nevada. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm were both at the groundbreaking ceremony for the TransWest Express Transmission Project, in Rawlins, Wyo.
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The Anschutz Corporation, based in Denver, Colo., owns the project, being developed by its TransWest Express subsidiary.
The line will run from south-central Wyoming and terminate in southern Nevada, running through Colorado and Utah in the process.
Once built, the transmission line will carry 3,000 megawatts of new transmission capacity.
The line will carry energy generated at the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project, in Carbon County, Wyo. The project produces over three gigawatts of power and is partly located on public land.
The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management authorized the project in April.
"The TransWest Express Project will accelerate our nation's transition to a clean energy economy by unlocking renewable resources, creating jobs, lowering costs, and boosting local economies," Haaland said in a statement.
The project itself includes 730 miles of direct current transmission line, as well as two terminals. The northern terminal will be located near Sinclair, Wyo. and the southern one 25 miles south of Las Vegas.
The Bureau of Land Management is currently developing 74 major onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the Western United States.
"The TransWest Express Project will play a major role in our nation's energy security, ensuring that home-grown clean energy can form the backbone of our electric grid as we rebuild a stronger, more resilient transmission system," Granholm said in the statement.
