The Colorado Public Utilities Commission today affirmed an earlier decision to allow development of a controversial high-voltage power line in southern Colorado.
The PUC rejected an appeal by Trinchera Ranch owner Louis Bacon, who said the 136-mile line across La Veta Pass would be costly to Colorado utility customers and ruin undeveloped portions of his 172,000-acre ranch in Costilla County.
A Bacon spokesman said the billionaire hedge-fund manager will file a lawsuit in state district court to stop the project.
Xcel Energy and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association are proposing the $180 million power line to carry renewable energy from the San Luis Valley to the Front Range, and to improve system reliability for Colorado customers.
