Heinrich to Celebrate Groundbreaking of New SunZia Transmission Line, Largest Renewable Energy Project in America
CORONA, N.M. – This Friday, September 1, at 9:30 a.m. MT, in Corona, N.M., U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will be joined by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Senior Advisor to the President John Podesta to commemorate the groundbreaking of Sunzia Southwest Transmission Project, two planned 500-kilovolt transmission lines located across approximately 520 miles of federal, state, and private lands between central New Mexico and central Arizona.
Senator Heinrich has been a longtime champion of the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, dating back to 2009, when the project’s permitting process began. When completed, the SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind projects will become the largest renewable energy infrastructure project in U.S. history, transporting up to 4,500 megawatts of energy from New Mexico to markets in Arizona and California. The project is expected to create over 2,000 jobs during construction and support over 100 permanent jobs once online.
In April, Pattern Energy announced that an independent analysis conducted by the research firm Energy, Economic, & Environmental Consultants LLC found that the SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind projects will generate an estimated $20.5 billion in total economic benefits.
This project represents another milestone from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – a key pillar of Bidenomics – which is working to accelerate transmission buildout to lower consumers’ energy costs, prevent power outages in the face of extreme weather, create good-paying union jobs, and achieve the President’s goal of a 100% clean electricity grid by 2035.
WHAT: Groundbreaking event to commemorate SunZia Southwest Transmission Project
WHEN: September 1, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. MT
WHERE: Corona, New Mexico
RSVP: Credentialed members of the media interested in attending should RSVP to Matt Dallas (matt.dallas@patternenergy.com) and Josh Thomas (josh.thomas@patternenergy.com) no later than 5 p.m. MT on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Space is limited for in-person attendance and not guaranteed. Additional information will be sent upon RSVP confirmation.
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