Aug. 30, 2013 – The Bureau of Land Management and Western Area Power Administration will hold the final four public open houses/hearings about the TransWest Express Transmission Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement next week in Nevada and Utah.

The TransWest Express Transmission Project is a regional transmission system upgrade that will deliver 3,000 megawatts of clean energy from Wyoming to the Desert Southwest. The 725-mile proposed route for the TWE Project crosses primarily federal land.

The report informs the public of various factors associated with this new transmission line, including its potential ecological, aesthetic, cultural, economic and social effects. The draft report also identifies an agency preferred alternative route from south-central Wyoming, through northwest Colorado and central Utah, and through southeastern Nevada before the route terminates at the Eldorado Valley electric power complex near Hoover Dam.

The final four of the 13 public meetings/hearings are scheduled next week as follows:

Staff from the BLM, Western and TransWest will be available at the public meetings to explain project details and gather information from interested individuals and groups.

The Draft EIS results from more than four years of environmental analysis, public input and collaboration among more than 50 federal, state and local cooperating agencies. The public has until Sept. 30 to review the Draft EIS and provide comments for BLM and Western to consider as they prepare the Final EIS, scheduled for release next year.

In addition to the meetings, people also can send comments by email at TransWest_WYMail@blm.gov, or by mail to TransWest Express Transmission Project, Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 20678, Cheyenne, WY 82003. To be considered in the Final EIS, comments must be received by Sept. 30, the close of the public comment period.

For more information about TransWest Express LLC and the TWE Project, visit www.transwestexpress.net.

- xxx -