With possibly two new high voltage power lines coming to NW Oregon and SW Washington, here’s a reminder that we’re not the only ones dealing with these issues.
For more than a year, Idaho Power has been trying to find a route for a 500 kilovolt transmission line from Boardman, Ore. to Hemingway, Idaho. That’s about 300 miles long, cutting through forests, farm land and range.
The first proposed routes were so badly received that Idaho Power dropped them and started all over from scratch.
So what are they looking at now? The latest map, courtesy the Stop Idaho Power blog, resembles a giant multicolored spider’s web covering most of Eastern Oregon. While the first routes were roughly parallel to I-84, this newest map includes routes that could run north into Washington, or as far south as Burns.


