SunZia Southwest Transmission Project: Wind energy transfer project slated for San Pedro River Valley put on temporary hold
ARIZONA: The SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a pioneering effort to capture and distribute renewable energy throughout the southwestern United States, is currently in a state of suspension.
Originally planned for the San Pedro River Valley, the project’s progress has been temporarily halted.
The wind energy initiative, which has its roots in the Obama administration, is currently suspended across an approximately 50-mile stretch in southern Arizona.
The suspension comes in response to opposition from a coalition of tribes and local communities, per Fronteras.
What is the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project?
The SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a 3,500-megawatt wind energy power line, is reportedly planned to span 550 miles across public, federal, and state lands in New Mexico and Arizona.
This project, which originated during the tenure of former President Obama, is reportedly being further advanced under President Joe Biden’s administration.
What are the concerns surrounding the wind energy project?
However, there are concerns about its environmental impact. Peter Else, the chairperson of the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, has expressed concerns that the project could disrupt the fragile wilderness in southern Arizona.
"We’ve been mostly focused on the ecological impacts to 33 miles of the most remote and ecologically sensitive portions of the San Pedro Valley," he stated.
Why the project is being rerouted away from the valley?
The San Pedro River, celebrated by conservationists as the last unimpeded river in the Southwest, is a haven for birds and diverse wildlife.
Originating in Sonora across the border, it flows northward through Arizona. This river is reportedly considered a biological treasure trove.
Groups like the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, led by Peter Else, along with others, are advocating for the SunZia project to be rerouted to avoid the river valley.
This year, he initiated a lawsuit against the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), one of the regulatory authorities that initially approved the project.
The lawsuit contends that the project’s scope and specifics have significantly altered since it received ACC’s endorsement back in 2016.
"The only reason it got that approval is that SunZia at the time claimed there were going to be grid benefits for the state of Arizona," he stated.
"We're going to have this very expensive form of renewable energy being imported into our state, with the primary market not even being in our state, it being in California, where the average retail price of electricity is twice what it currently is in Arizona," he added.
What's the current status of the project?
This month, the Bureau of Land Management has imposed a temporary halt on a 50-mile stretch of the project that includes the river valley.
This action was taken in response to a request from Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose, who expressed concerns that the project would disrupt sensitive cultural areas and burial sites.
The San Carlos Apache, Zuni, and Hopi tribes have also reportedly voiced similar apprehensions about the construction in this area. Tribal leaders are scheduled to meet with Department of Interior officials this week to discuss the future course of action.