The proposed transmission line will transfer wind-produced power from New Mexico to cities in Arizona and California.
According to an Associated Press story in U.S. News and World Report, the Interior Department has approved a major new power transmission line that will move wind-generated power from New Mexico to western cities.
The SunZia project is part of a broader federal effort to modernize the power grid and boost renewable energy production. The project would include 520 miles of transmission lines to California and Arizona.
The article adds that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has a queue of more than 150 applications for wind and solar projects, largely on remote western lands. Critics of massive solar farms worry that installations will damage fragile desert ecosystems, often viewed as barren, and threaten the desert’s role as a carbon sink, recommending instead more solar panels near existing roadways and on parking lots.
Read the full story: US Greenlights Major Transmission Line for Renewable Energy in Western States
Major Wind Power Transmission Line Approved by BLM
The new power line will connect the nation’s largest onshore wind project to southwestern states.
Nation’s Largest Offshore Wind Project, Suspended by Trump, Restarts Construction
A judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration’s suspension of five East Coast offshore wind projects.
Texas Rural Communities Could Lose Billions From Renewable Energy Tax Credit Cuts
Texas produces more solar and wind energy than anywhere in America — and the tax revenue from it pays for rural schools, hospitals, law enforcement and more. The One Big Beautiful Bill threatens that.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic Place Names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority