Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming Construction Notes
Hol Wagner -- Rocky Mountain Construction, 1/22/2008 12:36:00 PM
Arizona Approves 500-KV Power Line
Yuma, Ariz. – The Arizona Corporation Commission on Jan. 15 approved plans of Arizona Public Service (APS) to construct a $250-million, 110-mile, 550-kilovolt power line from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Winterburg, Ariz., to Yuma, in the southwestern corner of the state. Yuma, near the borders with California and Mexico, is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and existing transmission lines serving the region will soon be overloaded. APS expects it will take two years to acquire the needed rights of way for the line and two more years to build it. The utility hopes to have the line operational by 2012. The power lines will be carried on steel towers as tall as 150 feet, and the route will primarily parallel the existing Southwest Powerlink transmission lines.
Colorado Springs Appeals Water Line Ruling
Pueblo, Colo. – Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) has appealed a November 2007 ruling of Pueblo District Court Judge Dennis Maes to the Colorado Court of Appeals. CSU plans to build a $1-billion pipeline to carry water from Pueblo Reservoir up to Colorado Springs, increasing the city’s water supply by a third. Last November Judge Maes ruled against the utility’s contention that it shouldn’t have to follow Pueblo County’s land development regulations in constructing the pipeline.
CSU subsequently sought a clarification of the ruling, and on Dec. 30 the judge stated he views Pueblo County’s powers under the development rules as being very broad — enough to include the storage of water in Pueblo Reservoir and the regulation of discharges and return flows originating outside the county. In light of that clarification, CSU has decided to proceed with its appeal. The federal Bureau of Reclamation is expected to release its draft environmental impact statement on the pipeline project in February or March, indicating which of seven alternative routes the federal government prefers. After a public comment period, the final EIS will be released in 2009.
Privately Financed USA Parkway Underway Near Reno
Sparks, Nev. – The second four miles of a privately financed four-lane highway that will eventually connect Interstate 80 with US-50 east of Sparks are under construction. The USA Parkway’s 18-mile route passes through the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center just east of Sparks, and the project is being financed entirely by Roger Norman, principal owner/developer of the 104,000-acre industrial park. It is being built at a cost of about $1 million per mile, including water, sewer and gas lines, and will serve as the industrial center’s main thoroughfare.
A grand opening of the parkway’s northern end, including a $25-million interchange with I-80 (formerly the Tracy-Clark interchange) and a bridge over the Truckee River, was held Jan. 17. The state’s role in the project is limited to assuring that state and federal standards are met at the I-80 and planned US-50 interchanges.
"It is not our project," said Nevada DOT spokesman Scott Magruder. "There are no plans for the state to take it over. There’s a lot of other roadwork we need to take care of in Lyon County. We’ve got a lot of other needs there," he said, citing plans to widen US-50A to Fallon.
The USA Parkway now ends just beyond the entry into the industrial park’s 970,000-square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center. The second phase, now under construction, will climb over several ridges and descend into a 5,000-acre valley known as Bittleman Flats, and that area will become phase three of the industrial park.
SCHOTT Solar To Build Albuquerque Plant
Albuquerque – SCHOTT Solar is preparing to begin construction of a $100-million, 200,000-square-foot plant in Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol to manufacture critical components for solar thermal receivers and photovoltaic panels. Construction of the plant’s first phase is to begin shortly, with production expected to start in spring 2009. Some 350 jobs will be created in the initial phase, with as many as 1,500 jobs possible when all phases of the plant are completed.
"Key to SCHOTT’s selection of Mesa del Sol is the high level of commitment by the city, county and state; the site’s proximity to one of the leading research centers for solar energy, Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico’s geographic proximity to key solar photovoltaic module and to concentrated solar power markets of the Southwest, and also the state’s supportive business climate," explained Michael Daly, president of Forest City Covington, the developer of Mesa del Sol.
Utah LNG Plant Construction Begins
Lisbon, Utah – Prometheus Energy, Seattle-based alternative and renewable energy company, has begun construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant at Lisbon, in southeastern Utah. The 12,000-gallons-per-day plant will begin commercial production in the second quarter of 2009, and construction of a second phase to bring output to 22,000 gallons per day will begin later this year.
"Beginning construction on the Lisbon plant is another major milestone for Prometheus as we continue to develop diverse supply sources for the natural gas vehicle market," said Prometheus CEO Kirt W. Montague, adding, "Approximately 200,000 gallons of LNG is consumed in the U.S. every day, and the market continues to grow steadily."
Prometheus also has n LNG production facility in California at the Bowerman Landfill in Irvine, using landfill gas as a feedstock.
DKRW Seeks Air Permit For Wyoming Plant
Medicine Bow, Wyo. – Houston-based DKRW, the company behind the proposed $2-billion coal-to-liquids plant in Carbon County, Wyo., hopes to receive its state air quality permit this year and begin initial sitework on the project. Last month the state Industrial Siting Council approved the permit for construction and operation of the plant, which is to be built about 13 miles southwest of Medicine Bow and eight miles north of Elk Mountain.
Full construction is to get underway in 2009, with the plant becoming operational in 2013, producing 15,000 to 20,000 barrels per day of low-sulfur gasoline from coal. The coal feedstock will come from the reopened Saddleback mine near Hanna, which would restart production in 2013. DKRW is working closely with Carbon County officials and municipalities in the area to prepare for the project’s expected 2,300-plus construction workforce.
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