An open house for the Western Spirit high-voltage transmission line planned to come through Valencia County will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Tuesday, July 23, at the Belen Community Center, 305 Eagle Lane, Belen.
The line, which will carry 1 GW of renewable energy from the Mesa Canyons wind farm south of Corona in Lincoln County, will sit on a 150- to 400-foot wide easement through Torrance, Socorro, Valencia, Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
It will end at the PNM-owned Rio Puerco substation in Sandoval County, northwest of Rio Rancho, and the power will be sold to providers such as PNM.
The projected corridor for the lines through Valencia County is nearly 39 miles, and will cross into the county in its southeast corner near the Tierra Grande subdivision, continuing on a northwest angle until it crosses the Rio Grande into the community of Bosque.
It will continue to the west of Interstate 25, then head north along Belen’s west mesa, passing west of the Belen Alexander Municipal Airport and Huning Hill in Los Lunas, before crossing onto the Isleta Pueblo.
The current proposed route crosses nearly 400 privately owned parcels of land in Valencia County, all of which appear to be in unincorporated areas.
The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.
674
April 19, 2024
