3,500+ MW New wind energy generation
SunZia Wind and SunZia Transmission combine to create the largest clean energy infrastructure project in United States history, harnessing over 3,500 MW of renewable energy. Privately developed by Pattern Energy, the projects are expected to generate $20.5 billion in total economic benefit, including more than $16 billion in direct economic investment, $3 billion in indirect and induced economic benefits across New Mexico and Arizona, and $1.3 billion in direct payments to local governments, communities, and schools.
~550 miles
±525 kV High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line — Opening New Mexico and its vast wind resource to export opportunities
AZ
NM
Permanent jobs For 30+ years operating period
100+
SAN MIGUEL
Albuquerque
SunZia Wind
TORRANCE
SunZia Transmission
Construction jobs Over approximately 2.5 years
2,000+
Phoenix
LINCOLN
SOCORRO
PINAL
GRANT
SIERRA
Silver City
GRAHAM
Tucson
PIMA
Americans Supplied with clean power annually
3 million
Las Cruces
LUNA
COCHISE
HIDALGO
SunZia Wind and Transmission Economic Impacts
$20.5 billion
TOTAL :
$16.2 billion
$1.9 billion
Direct Economic Impact
Indirect Economic Impact
Capital expenditure and operational expenditure, including payments to private landowners
Purchases of goods and services resulting from the expenditures, such as food, lodging, and supplies
$1.3 billion
$1.1 billion
Fiscal Impact
Induced Economic Impact
Subsequent impact of direct and indirect benewts to public services, including police, wre, schools, and households
Payments directly to public entities, including taxes, PILOT payments, community sponsorships, federal agency payments, and state land payments
Figures represented are the results of an independent study conducted by research firm Energy, Economic & Environment Consultants LLC.
SunZia.com
SunZia Transmission
New Mexico
Arizona
SunZia Transmission originates in east-central New Mexico. The new transmission line enables the development of the state’s high-quality wind resource for benefit across the western market. Torrance County is the eastern terminus of SunZia, which then traverses 353 miles southwest into Valencia, Socorro, Sierra, Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo counties before continuing its path through Arizona. The New Mexico portion of the line is being developed in partnership with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA), which facilitates the development of electric transmission and storage projects.
SunZia Transmission traverses over 199 miles in five Arizona counties, including Greenlee, Graham, Cochise, Pima, and Pinal before interconnecting with the Western Interconnection southeast of Phoenix. Access will enable development of new renewable resources to serve expanding renewable electricity demands.
199 Transmission miles
HVDC Converter Station Pinal County, Arizona
353 Transmission miles
Economic Impacts
MILLIONS
HVDC Converter Station Torrance County, New Mexico
Total New Mexico Arizona
$452
Direct
$3,649
$564
$187
Fiscal Impacts
$304
$117
$147
Indirect Benefits
$266
$120
$168
Induced Benefits
$324
$157
Total Impact
$4,544
$958 $953
Out of State Direct Economic Impact: $2,633 million
SunZia Wind
Environmental Benefits
SunZia Wind represents the largest wind energy facility in the United States. The 3,515 MW facility will be located in Lincoln, Torrance, and San Miguel counties in New Mexico.
SunZia is the most significant clean energy infrastructure project in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
3 million Americans Supplied with clean power, annually
Permanent jobs For 30+ years operating period
100+
7+ billion gallons of water saved*
13+ million metric tons of CO 2 avoided* Equivalent to: removing ~3 million cars from the road or taking 3 GW worth of coal plants offline
Construction jobs Over approximately 2.5 years
1,000+
*as compared to coal-fired generation
Economic Impacts
MILLIONS
Filling in the Energy Gap SunZia wind generation is complementary to solar generation in the Southwest, producing power in the late afternoons and evenings when solar ramps down. This period is the grid’s most critical time of day, and SunZia’s power will reduce the overall need for fossil fuel resources. Low-conflict Environmental Site Identified by the conservation community as one of roughly 20 areas in the western U.S. that could provide environmentally low-conflict renewable energy generation to meet California’s zero-carbon electricity goals. Public Health & Environmental Justice Fossil fuel generation is often sited near low-income, historically underserved communities. SunZia is part of a larger movement to relieve the burden that a coal-fired electric grid inflicted on these communities. Partnering for Education Renewable energy will help support the next generation in more ways than one—our land agreements with the Arizona State Land Department and New Mexico State Land Office will help each agency meet its mission goals of funding public education.
Total
New Mexico
Direct
$12,511
$2,982
Fiscal Impacts
$1,037
$1,037
Indirect Benefits
$1,616
$1,616
Induced Benefits
$789
$789
Total Impact
$15,953
$6,424
Out of State Direct Economic Impact: $9,529 million
Wind energy is great for the rural community. Pattern putting these wind turbines up and adding to the income of the ranchers is really keeping a lot of the ranches in their families. They’re not having to sell their cattle; they’re not having to sell their ranch. They’ve got enough supplemental income to get them through the rough years.
Tom Spindle New Mexico
Commitment to Local Communities and Environmental Stewardship
Community Engagement and Giving Pattern’s involvement in the community started early and will continue throughout the life of the projects. Community engagement has been quintessential for SunZia, and Pattern has sought and incorporated feedback from local, regional, and national organizations ranging from local groups like the Save our Bosque Task Force, to regional groups like Western Resource Advocates and national organizations such as Audubon National. This feedback led to better, more environmentally compatible projects. When the community speaks, we listen. That’s why we’ve invested millions to support dark sky initiatives, minimizing FAA lighting on transmission towers and installing radar systems to keep our wind farm FAA lights off until planes fly through. Being a good neighbor benefits the communities where we develop and the long-term success of our facilities. Pattern’s Community Benefits Programs support local economies and ensure regional benefits and lasting impact. We aim to be partners, from providing sustaining donations to community-based organizations to sponsoring valued local events like the Junior Livestock Pavilion at the New Mexico State Fair. Our contributions are also funding conservation organizations working in the Middle Rio Grande Valley to build staff capacity for the first 10 years of operations where the SunZia Transmission Project crosses the Rio Grande. Local Job Creation Pattern Energy strives to find ways to expand benefits for the communities where we operate. We are committed to using qualified local and regional vendors and contractors when possible. These efforts will create more jobs and help the community derive additional economic benefits from the project.
Environmental Stewardship The SunZia Wind and Transmission Projects have been developed with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, following through on an extended engagement with local, regional, and national conservation stakeholders. SunZia Transmission is setting a precedent with a gold standard in environmental mitigation projects developed hand-in-hand with the environmental community. SunZia Wind has established robust best practices to reduce project impacts and study effective habitat restoration strategies in partnership with local and state experts. This work is varied in scale and subject and includes: — Working with the conservation community to purchase a 1,000-acre property along the Rio Grande with significant water rights that is expected to be donated to the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge; — Partnering with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish on several thousand acres of habitat restoration , expected to include earthen tank rehabilitation, invasive species removal, revegetation with native species, wildcat road restoration, and erosion control; — Installing, testing, and studying an innovative technology illuminating the transmission line with UV light to increase the visibility for large-bodied waterfowl, which began in 2021 in funding to ongoing research in the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary; — Ongoing research into sandhill crane flight behavior in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), which resulted in the publication of peer- reviewed science that can inform future transmission line design; and
— Funding scientific research to USFWS and New Mexico State University to understand upland bird population declines in the desert southwest.
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