Developers of the Western Interconnection’s largest transmission project in decades can begin construction after getting the go-ahead from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday.

BLM issued a notice to proceed (NTP) to the TransWest Express (TWE) project, a 732-mile high-voltage line that will be capable of transmitting 3,000 MW of energy from wind farms in Wyoming to consuming markets to the west — specifically California. The NTP is the final step of a BLM approval process begun in 2008.

“Achieving the BLM NTP milestone provides important certainty that is needed as we work to complete other pre-construction steps such as finalizing our [engineering, procurement and construction] contractor team. We plan on commencing construction activities on the TWE project before the end of the year,” TransWest CEO Bill Miller said in a statement.

TWE would cross federal land for about two-thirds of its path, traversing three Western transmission planning regions. The project would consist of three linked segments: a 405-mile, 3,000-MW HVDC line between Wyoming and Utah; a 278-mile, 1,500-MW HVAC line between Utah and Nevada; and a 49-mile, 1,500-MW HVAC transmission line in Nevada. It would connect in Utah to lines serving the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and in Nevada to CAISO’s balancing authority area.

“Public lands continue to play a vital role in advancing President Biden’s goal of achieving a net-zero economy by 2050,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a press release. “This large-scale transmission line will put people to work across our public lands and will help deliver clean, renewable energy. Our responsible use of public lands today can help ensure a clean energy future for us all.”

TWE is expected to create about 1,000 jobs during its construction phase, according to BLM. The line would tap power generated by the 3-GW Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project in Wyoming, which will also partially sit on public lands administered by the BLM once construction is complete.

Both TransWest and the wind project are owned by The Anschutz Corp.

Monday’s federal approval marked the second milestone for TWE in less than a month. In March, FERC approved an agreement allowing the company to continue its effort to become a participating transmission owner (PTO) in CAISO under a new “subscriber PTO” model the ISO is developing to accommodate lines not funded by its transmission access charge, a cost allocation mechanism. Instead, TransWest would be completely funded by its own customers. (See FERC OKs CAISO-TransWest Move Toward PTO Status.)

TransWest said it expects to complete construction of the first stage of the transmission project in 2027.