The federal Rural Utilities Service said Thursday that an environmental-impact statement will be done on a controversial proposal for a high-voltage transmission line in the San Luis Valley.
Initially, the proposal by the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Xcel Energy was going to receive a less rigorous environmental assessment.
The $180 million line would run 140 miles from Pueblo, through Walsenburg, over La Veta pass to Alamosa.
The line would cross the 171,000-acre Trinchera Ranch, which is owned by billionaire hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon. Consultants for the ranch called for the impact statement and consideration of alternative routes.
“This is a good first step by the Rural Utilities Service,” said Cody Wertz, spokesman for Trinchera Ranch. “It is now vital that RUS expand the study area to ensure that all reasonable alternatives” are examined.
Xcel Energy and Tri-State support the decision on the impact statement, spokesmen for the two utilities said.
“Anything that allows for the project’s completion with the best review and information is a good thing,” said Mark Stutz, an Xcel spokesman.
The more comprehensive environmental-impact statement would add about six months to the process, placing the operation of the line into late 2013, Stutz said.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
