Western Area Power Administration May 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Western Area Power Administration (Western), an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), received a request from Quartzsite Solar Energy, LLC (QSE) to interconnect its proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy Project (Project) to Western's Bouse-Kofa 161-kilovolt (kV) transmission line. The proposed Project site is in an undeveloped area in La Paz County, Arizona, east of State Route (SR) 95, approximately 10 miles north of Quartzsite, Arizona, on lands administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). On December 21, 2012, the Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Yuma Field Office (Yuma) Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (PRMPA) for Quartzsite Solar Energy Project was published in the Federal Register (77 FR 75632). After considering the environmental impacts, Western has decided to allow QSE's request for interconnection to Western's transmission system on the Bouse-Kofa 161-kV transmission line and to construct, own, and operate a new switchyard and its associated communication pathway.