Arizona utility regulators have authorized construction of a controversial planned $2 billion transmission line between Arizona and New Mexico.
The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to approve the 515-mile-long SunZia Southwest Transmission Project. The certificate is one of the last major permits the project needs.
The SunZia project aims to tap into wind resources in New Mexico as well as solar and geothermal potential in New Mexico and Arizona. The line will export electricity to markets in the West.
The Cyrq Energy Lightning Dock Geothermal resource area, named after the mountain range just east of the project site, is located in the Animas Valley of southwest New Mexico, in Hidalgo County, approximately 20 miles southwest of Lordsburg, NM, just south of the transmission line.