RioSol’s 550-Mile Transmission Project will Help New Mexico and Arizona meet Renewable Energy Goals

Permitting and Routing for RioSol Line Started in 2008

FOR RELEASE: May 1, 2023

Media Contact: Tom Garrity, 505-898-8689, RioSol@garritypr.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The planned RioSol transmission line will connect New Mexico and Arizona communities with renewable energy. The 500-kilovolt (kV) High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) power line is anticipated to have a minimum of five substations between Central New Mexico to South Central Arizona. When completed, RioSol will carry enough clean energy to power approximately 500 thousand homes in Arizona and New Mexico as well as generate an estimated 971.1 million in economic revenue (according to a 2022 Moss Adams Economic Benefits Study).

RioSol is part of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history. RioSol’s route parallels SunZia and is a part of the SunZia Environmental Impact Statement process. The two separately owned transmission lines (RioSol is an HVAC line, SunZia is a High Voltage Direct Current line) will largely traverse  the same 550 miles of federal, state and private lands between central New Mexico and central Arizona. Both transmission lines anticipate a record of decision in May 2023 with construction to follow soon thereafter.

This route comes as part of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s soon to be completed, extensive Environmental Impact Statement process (Draft EIS which was issued in April of 2022 and Final EIS completed in February, 2023). BLM’s EIS includes an updated Preferred Alternative Route (PAR) for both projects.  The amended routes, were proposed in order to address military and environmental impacts and resolve additional stakeholder concerns. Full details are available via the BLM National NEPA Register.

The RioSol transmission line, which is being developed as an HVAC line will play a critical role in meeting New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act (ETA) that sets a statewide renewable energy standard of 50 percent by 2030 for New Mexico investor-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives, and Arizona Corporation Commission’s renewable portfolio standard to reduce carbon fuel emissions for utilities by 50% by 2032. The HVAC design allows for the opportunity to distribute the renewable energy being transported, through interconnection substations New Mexico and Arizona utilities along the route. Once approved, RioSol construction will begin as early as 2025, operational in 2028.

About RioSol

RioSol is a planned 500-kilovolt (kV) High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) renewable energy transmission line that will deliver clean energy Central New Mexico to South Central Arizona. For project details visit RioSol.Energy and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn @RioSolEnergy.

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