Project Need and Benefits

The project will meet multiple electric system needs in the Desert Southwest including facilitating access to renewable energy.

BENEFITS OF THE SOUTHLINE TRANSMISSION PROJECT


  • New opportunities for clean, cost-effective, reliable electricity – By networking with numerous existing substations along its route - and greatly augmenting the electricity transmission capacity along the I-10 corridor between the El Paso, Texas area, Southern New Mexico, Southern Arizona and existing regional electric market hubs - Southline enables access to world class wind and solar resources as well as inexpensive existing generation resources, which are cheaper than new gas-fired plants, and whose use reduces emissions and other impacts of new additional conventional resources.

  • Local economic benefits – The Southline Transmission Project isn’t just passing through. Southline provides benefits to local economies during project construction, including local demand for services, materials and workers. But long-term benefits are the reason we’re building the project, including gains in access to cheaper, more reliable power for small and large electricity customers alike. Plus, the Southline enables additional local renewable energy development that would be impossible without more east-west transmission capacity. In the future, new business opportunities in data, communications and electric transportation could be available to areas that can provide reliable renewable energy at scale, and Southline will help the Desert Southwest in securing these wins for the region.

  • Catalyst for local renewable energy development – The Southline Transmission Project is critical to the development of the world-class solar and wind resources of southern New Mexico and West Texas. The Border Region will be a leader in the renewable energy transformation that is bringing cleaner and cheaper electricity to markets across the Western United States. Southline will be part of the solution for the customers, utilities, and state and local governments that are creating new local business opportunities around local renewables. The world wants what the Border Region can produce – clean, reliable, high-quality renewable power at utility scale – and upon completion Southline will be a reliable path to market for this power.

  • Smart, coordinated approach – For more than a decade, The Southline team has painstakingly worked with local stakeholders to ensure Southline meets local needs and improves the region’s electric system in a way that keeps stakeholder priorities front of mind. Southline minimizes land use conflicts by upgrading existing electrical paths and utilizes existing infrastructure corridors to minimize new impacts to cultural, community and environmental resources. In fact, these upgrades and existing corridors represent more than 85% of Southline’s route. Our planning and outreach efforts have paid off, with the first construction phase beginning early in 2021 in Arizona. We are shovel ready and have state and federal rights of way and permits in hand. Let’s get to work!
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