Energy Gateway

Attention is focusing on our nation's electrical transmission system, especially in the West where there has been very little investment in new transmission infrastructure for nearly 20 years. During that time, population, communities and electricity demand in the region have all grown significantly. The transmission system is reaching capacity in many places and is bottlenecked in others.

PacifiCorp is leading the way to change that. In May 2007, PacifiCorp launched the Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion - an ambitious, multi-year $6 billion-plus investment plan that will add approximately 2,000 miles of new transmission line across the West. Energy Gateway, and projects planned by other entities, will alleviate constraints and address current and future growth of many kinds.

The first major segment of Energy Gateway – Populus to Terminal – was placed into service in November 2010 and construction is scheduled to begin mid-2011 on the second major segment – Mona to Oquirrh. Outreach, siting and permitting processes continue for several other segments.

PacifiCorp has an obligation to plan for and meet the energy needs of its customers now and in the future. To do so, the company prepares an Integrated Resource Plan that considers population and energy demand growth on its system and identifies resources necessary to meet its obligation. This plan identifies a need for more transmission lines to deliver electricity from new generating resources – either from new generating plants, or to provide a path for additional energy purchases from other entities in the region. Energy Gateway meets this need by providing access to both conventional energy sources and areas where renewable energy development possibilities are strong, as shown in these regional maps of wind (PDF), solar (PDF), biomass (PDF) and geothermal (PDF) potential.

The map below shows the individual segment additions that comprise the Energy Gateway expansion. Depending on regional, third-party and local participation, the final lines may vary somewhat. PacifiCorp is taking every reasonable step to accommodate broad regional transmission needs, but we are committed to building Energy Gateway to first meet our responsibility to provide customers with safe, reliable and reasonably priced electrical service.

Read more about this important investment in the Energy Gateway fact sheet (PDF).

Links to Energy Gateway segment information can be found below. We update these pages regularly as new information becomes available.