Local advisory panel hears pushback and developer defense over Greenlink North, SWIP North and Robinson Summit expansion

The White Pine County Natural Resources Advisory Committee on Jan. 20 heard competing presentations on major transmission projects proposed across northern Nevada, with conservation advocates urging close scrutiny and the developer describing mitigation and local benefits.

Megan Ortiz and Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity presented a slide-driven critique of the Greenlink North Environmental Impact Statement and related SEIS process, arguing the BLM and state decisions underplay environmental harms. "Mr. Donnelly felt that Greenlink North represented a change for Northern Nevada with many consequences," the committee record states. Donnelly said the governor’s waiver of seasonal timing restrictions for construction was adopted without adequate analysis and expressed concern that exemptions weakened previously protective sage-grouse measures. He urged local governments to participate in the SEIS comment period and said May was the anticipated date for final approval and construction to begin in 2027.

Lane Singleton, project manager for LS Power, presented the SWIP North transmission line and the Robinson Summit substation expansion on behalf of the developer. Singleton said the Robinson substation ownership would be 75% LS Power and 25% NV Energy, with NV Energy operating the facility, and that the transmission line would be owned through LS Power’s subsidiary, Great Basin Transmission. He described a 200-foot BLM right-of-way approved for exclusive use along much of the route and said the line tracks roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 93 and Highway 318. He noted the project plans to use self-weathering tubular steel poles designed to blend with the environment and said the company expects to pay property taxes for 40 years in the project area.

Committee members questioned alternative routings and potential wildlife impacts. Donnelly told the committee he believed SWIP North on its own already achieved the redundancy and reliability developers cite, questioning the need for Greenlink North. Singleton said the project team had been conducting lek surveys and coordinating with the BLM on sage-grouse considerations.

The committee took no formal regulatory action on the projects at the meeting; presenters urged White Pine County to engage in the upcoming SEIS comment period. Speakers on both sides encouraged local officials to track Record of Decision timelines and environmental reviews at the federal level.