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Construction suspended on part of SunZia transmission project

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the SunZia transmission line project in Corona in September. Construction on a 50-mile tract of the line has been paused.

Jon Austria / Journal

Ryan Boetel Ryan Boetel Ryan Boetel Business Editor

Published November 14, 2023 - 8:00 a.m. Modified December 18, 2024 - 2:00 a.m.

Just a little more than two months after breaking ground on the massive SunZia transmission line project, the yearslong construction effort has been suspended through a 50-mile tract over objections from tribes in Arizona.

Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Oct. 31 asking her “to halt the unlawful and deeply harmful destruction of the San Pedro Valley.” Jose wrote that during the approval process, the Bureau of Land Management accepted a flawed and incomplete historic property inventory report and that the agency didn’t identify or address historic properties within the construction site.

“In order to respond to these concerns, the BLM has ordered an immediate temporary suspension of SunZia’s activities authorized within the San Pedro Valley ... covering an approximately 50-mile segment in Arizona, located entirely on non-federal land,” Allison Sandoval, a spokeswoman with the BLM, said in a statement. “The BLM will conduct government-to-government consultations on this matter and chart a path forward.”

The transmission line project took 15 years to get all government approvals in place and was billed as the largest single clean-energy development effort in the U.S.

Renewable developer Pattern Energy expects to invest $8 billion to build the system, which will transport 3 gigawatts of wind energy from central New Mexico to south-central Arizona via a 550-mile high-voltage transmission line. As many as 2,000 people will be working on the line during peak construction, which is expected to take three years. The transmission line will have about 110 permanent workers.

Haaland, White House Senior Advisor to the President John Podesta and New Mexico Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich were among the officials who joined Pattern Energy executives on Sept. 1 when the project broke ground north of Corona.

It was unclear how the pause in construction within the San Pedro Valley would affect the project. The system was to go live in 2026.

Natalie McCue, assistant vice president of Environmental and Permitting at Pattern Energy, said the company respects the heritage, history and rights of Indigenous people.

“Throughout this BLM-led process which began in 2009, the SunZia Transmission team has actively worked to address any Tribal concerns,” McCue said in a statement. “This pause, limited to the 50-mile stretch of the San Pedro Valley in Arizona, is to allow for these discussions and not based on any adverse findings about SunZia Transmission. We believe this is a good faith step as part of the BLM consultation process, which we will continue to work to support.”

Sandoval said the suspension doesn’t affect other segments of the transmission line.

Once completed, the transmission line is expected to send enough power to deliver clean energy to 3 million people. Pattern Energy plans to build the transmission and wind farms simultaneously. Plans call for construction of 1,000 wind turbines in Lincoln, Torrance and San Miguel counties.

The line will run west from Corona in Lincoln County until crossing the Rio Grande south of Belen. It will then head south before turning west in southern New Mexico into Arizona.

An economic impact study by Energy, Economic & Environment Consultants LLC estimated the total economic impact over the 30-year life of the project could be more than $20 billion, of which about $7.4 billion will be local, New Mexico-based economic impact.

The construction pause in Arizona is the latest in what has already been a protracted process to build the transmission line. Permitting began in 2009, but the project got bogged down in yearslong disputes over environmental impact, especially where the line crossed the Rio Grande because of the effect it would have on sandhill cranes and other birds that fly along the river.

The project also was slowed because of Department of Defense concerns about interference with operations at White Sands Missile Range, which was included in the original plans.