PacifiCorp presents proposed 61‑mile Gateway West transmission route through Lincoln County, schedules construction for 2026

PacifiCorp representatives briefed Lincoln County commissioners on Gateway West Segment 4/D.3 at the Nov. 15 meeting, describing proposed routing, land‑use breakdown and a tentative construction schedule.

Aleta Brown, pre‑construction project manager for PacifiCorp, said about 61 miles of new 500‑kilovolt single‑circuit transmission line are proposed within Lincoln County: approximately 38 miles on Bureau of Land Management land, 4 miles on state‑managed land and 19 miles on private land. Brown said PacifiCorp is working with landowners to obtain right‑of‑entry access needed to complete environmental and engineering studies and that additional engineering is required to finalize the route and structure types.

Brown described a Cokeville reroute currently proposed at roughly a 250‑foot offset from the existing 345 kV centerline, spanning about 7 miles, and said the design calls for self‑supporting tangent steel lattice structures with access routes roughly 14 to 22 feet wide. Shawn Graff, PacifiCorp right‑of‑way agent, answered commissioner questions about electromagnetic‑frequency (EMF) concerns during the presentation.

PacifiCorp provided a project schedule and milestones at the meeting: construction is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2026, with an in‑service date projected for the fourth quarter of 2028. No county action or vote on the project was recorded at the session; Brown framed the briefing as an informational update and said further engineering and routing work remains to be completed before final decisions on specific alignments.