TransCanada nears decision on two planned power lines in US West

Portland, Maine (Platts)--11Apr2007

TransCanada is close to having agreements in place with enough US
Southwest utilities to move ahead with detailed permitting and siting for two
500-kV power lines that would run from Montana and Wyoming to southern Nevada,
a TransCanada official told Nevada regulators Wednesday.

"It looks like we're approaching the tipping point" in securing
commitments from utilities to back the two lines in TransCanada's
NorthernLights project, Michael Hogan, TransCanada vice president for business
development, told the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.

There's increasing interest in the project that aims to deliver "clean"
coal-fired and wind capacity to Arizona, California and Nevada, he said.

TransCanada plans soon to begin the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council's planning process, Hogan said. TransCanada envisions building two,
roughly 1,000-mile DC lines with up to 3,000 MW capacity each. The lines would
cost $1.4 billion to $2 billion each. The company has agreements in place with
generators developing more than 15,000 MW, Hogan said.

At the same time, TransCanada is in talks with utilities in the Southwest
to take equity stakes in the project, Hogan said. The lines may be built in
stages, depending on the needs of utilities, Hogan said.

The company plans to start construction in 2009 and bring the lines into
service in 2012, he said.

--Ethan Howland, newsdesk@platts.com