BLM throws another hurdle at $4.2B NV Energy transmission line

The Bureau of Land Management is taking a second look at the environmental effects of a cross-Nevada transmission line that is costing ratepayers billions.

Greenlink North, at 235 miles, is planned to cut across the center of the state from Yerington to Ely, meant to accommodate more energy generation projects in rural Nevada, such as utility-scale solar farms. Within that stretch are protected areas for the imperiled sage grouse and an untouched expanse of U.S. Highway 50, known as the “Loneliest Road in America.”

In early January, the BLM issued a new timeline for the energy line’s construction, with a construction completion date of 2028. The adjusted schedule comes after Nevada’s BLM director officially agreed, in part, with protest letters filed by environmentalists, sportsmen groups and a lawyer representing Lander County.

Company and federal officials have long estimated that the construction would be completed in December 2028, meaning the timeline is largely the same. A final “record of decision” document granting federal permits should come on May 15, according to the BLM’s project website.

“Our team is monitoring the process closely and will make any necessary adjustments to meet the Greenlink North’s in-service date without sacrificing safety or quality,” NV Energy spokeswoman Meghin Delaney said in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, adding that construction is still slated to begin in January 2027.

Together, Greenlink North and its sister project, Greenlink West — which will connect Las Vegas to Yerington along the western border — have a price tag of $4.2 billion, the bulk of which will be funded through Southern Nevada customers. Greenlink West construction is already underway, with an anticipated service date of May 2027.

The BLM declined to comment further than the state director’s letter addressing the protest letters.

Sage grouse at center

Much of the forthcoming analysis has to do with the sage grouse — a bird that lives in Nevada’s sagebrush country, known for its mating dance similar to that of chickens.

The state is home to 2,320 known leks, or sage grouse mating grounds, according to Nevada’s Sagebrush Ecosystem Program. In its latest report submitted in June, state scientists reported that male attendance in mating groups had largely rebounded in 2023 and 2024, but that it was still down from a 20-year average.

On Greenlink North, Nevada BLM Director Jon Raby agreed with the protest letters on four of nine issues that are largely technical. Environmentalists such as Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, counted that as a win.

“This is vindication for the people and communities fighting back against the destruction of central Nevada by Greenlink North,” Donnelly said in a Monday statement. “We’ve been saying for years that this transmission line would ruin some of the best sage-grouse habitat in the state. Now, the BLM has found that its own environmental analysis didn’t account for such harms.”

One issue the federal agency failed to consider was proposed waivers and exemptions to land-use plans intended to protect sage grouse. According to federal documents, the energy line would run within four miles of dozens of sage grouse leks.

Raby, however, dismissed concerns that the environmental review process should consider the impacts of the projects a transmission line could support — a central tenet of a lawsuit that environmentalists filed against the BLM in May.

The new analysis also will address issues raised by Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office, which sent a letter in June concerned with overly broad protections for the sage grouse that could reduce certain segments of the line to as little as 45 days of active construction per year.

“This narrow window would significantly extend construction timelines and result in repeated annual mobilization in sensitive areas, which could increase overall disturbance to greater sage-grouse populations and their habitat,” Lombardo wrote.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.