OMAHA, NEBRASKA – A controversial high-voltage transmission line planned through Nebraska’s Sand Hills will move forward after the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) received federal approval of its plans to protect an endangered insect along the route.
NPPD spokesman Mark Becker welcomed the long-awaited Fish and Wildlife decision to allow the project, reports Omaha World Herald.
The $380 million Nebraska R-Project will start at NPPD’s Gerald Gentleman Station south of Sutherland, run north over Interstate 80 and the two Platte River branches into northwest Lincoln County, then turn east to meet U.S. Highway 83 south of Stapleton.
It will generally parallel the highway to a point east of Thedford, where it will turn east and run through northern Thomas, Blaine, Loup, Garfield and Wheeler Counties to a planned new substation southwest of Clearwater. NPPD also plans to expand a substation at the R-Project’s bend near Thedford.
NPPD officials said the R-Project will improve the reliability of the state’s electrical grid and meet the publicly governed utility’s commitments to the multistate Southwest Power Pool.
Source: Omaha World Herald; Centre for Rural Affairs