The IBEW signed a project labor agreement (PLA) Dec. 11 to build a $1.3-billion, 580-mile transmission line in New Mexico and Arizona. According to the press release, members from Phoenix Local 769 and Albuquerque, NM, Local 611 are already at work on the high-voltage DC transmission project.
At the project’s peak, hundreds of members will connect the largest renewable energy project in North American history — Pattern Energy’s 3.5-gigawatt Sun Zia wind project — to the booming economic centers across the Southwest and California.
"The men and women of the IBEW are proud to partner with Pattern Energy and Quanta Services Inc. on this historic energy infrastructure project,” said International President Kenneth W. Cooper in the release. “SunZia won’t just slash carbon emissions, but create good, middle-class jobs throughout the region, and this transmission PLA guarantees that.”
The $5-billion Sun Zia project will create more than 2,000 construction jobs and produce enough clean power for more than 3 million homes, developer Pattern Energy said.
The power will come from more than 900 turbines, two HVDC converter stations, 10 substations, multiple operations and maintenance facilities, and more than 100 miles of wind generation transmission lines.