Valley Electric Association officials today plan to announce details of the sale of approximately 164 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in Clark and Nye Counties to GridLiance Holdco, an independent transmission company based in Dallas.
The 230-kilovolt transmission system was built over a 20-year period beginning in the mid-1990s to provide reliable power for VEA member-owners while also connecting to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) energy grid, the VEA said in an announcement this week.
The sale will not affect member services, and VEA will continue to manage the system, the announcement said.
The sale price represents the largest premium on transmission assets in the United States, the VEA said.
“Part of the proceeds from the sale will be reinvested into fiber-optic broadband services to VEA’s rural Nevada service area, and VEA consumers who are also the utility’s owner/members, active from Sept. 14 to Oct. 14, 2016 will receive a $579 premium check, representing an approximately $18 million in immediate economic infusion to rural Nevada,” the statement said.
The VEA is a member-owned nonprofit electric utility headquartered in Pahrump. Started as a small rural electric utility in 1965, the company now provides service to more than 45,000 people within a vast 6,800-square-mile service area primarily along the California-Nevada line, with the majority in Nevada.
VEA’s service area starts in Sandy Valley, southwest of Las Vegas, and extends north for more than 250 miles to Fish Lake Valley. For more information about VEA, visit www.vea.coop
Check the Pahrump Valley Times for an upcoming story on today’s announcement.