Regulators in Idaho have given the go ahead for PacifiCorp to develop three wind farms totalling 1.15GW, a 225km transmission line and repowering totalling 900MW.
The company said the approval from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission on 20 July means it will go ahead with its Energy Vision 2020 initiative.
Utah and Wyoming, the other states in PacifiCorp’s six-state service territory that provides for regulatory review ahead of major capital investments, had approved the plans in June and April respectively.
The initiative will see the three projects and the transmission line built in Wyoming with the repowering also in that state and Washington state by 2020.
Oregon, Washington and California, the other three states covered by PacifiCorp, do not have statutes that allow commissions to provide similar regulatory review prior to construction of major projects, the company said.
In those states, a “full review and prudency determinations will come later when the company seeks permission to recover project costs”, it added.
Total investment in the Energy Vision 2020 projects will be just over $3bn, PacifiCorp said.
Construction of the projects is expected to start next year, pending acquisition of remaining rights of way, receipt of permits and final contracting.
Most of the repowering work should be completed in 2019, with remainder and the new projects finished the following year, PacifiCorp said.
Image: Pixabay
Idaho green light for PacifiCorp
By EBS