(Tribune News Service) — The Department of Defense is raising potential safety concerns about a small portion of the 472-mile Greenlink West transmission line that encroaches on restricted military airspace.

NV Energy’s planned construction of more than two dozen transmission towers in restricted airspace could present risks for military operations at the Nevada Test and Training Range, according to a statement from Nellis Air Force Base. The result of the ongoing risk mitigation negotiations could shape the future of the megaproject.

“The Greenlink West project impacts a part of the Nevada Test & Training Range (NTTR) where over 25,000 missions and 32,000 flight hours are scheduled annually,” the statement said. “Any obstructions in this restricted airspace increases the risk to operations and could present a flight safety conflict if not mitigated.”

Meghin Delaney, an NV Energy spokesperson, said the concerns related to aviation safety lights on the towers, which would sit on publicly-owned land.

Delaney, as well as Nye County spokesperson Arnold Knightly, both denied a previous report that construction was paused, since construction never began in the affected area.

The $4.2 billion project is NV Energy’s most ambitious — and most costly — yet. It will connect the Las Vegas Valley to the Reno area and eventually carry energy from massive rural solar farms to the urban areas. The project could transmit up to 4,000 megawatts of energy — enough to power at least 4.8 million homes, according to the Department of the Interior.

Proponents paint the project as a catalyst for clean energy development, a project that will create thousands of jobs and serve as a harbinger of an emerging renewable energy economy in Nevada.

Based on public documents filed under the National Environmental Policy Act, NV Energy considered several alternative routes that would not pass through restricted airspace. It ultimately settled on the current planned route to avoid an area where South Africa-based mining firm AngloGold Ashanti plans to explore for gold.

NV Energy plans to construct approximately 70 transmission towers in the 16-mile area of restricted airspace near Beatty, according to NV Energy spokesperson Katie Nannini.

Obstruction analysis records published by the Federal Aviation Administration show that the towers in the area are in an earlier stage of the analysis process than the other towers.

Construction is currently underway on four substations spanning the length of the project, as well as the transmission line connecting the substations near Las Vegas and Amargosa Valley.

NV Energy first met with Nevada Test and Training Range officials in April 2021, according to the Nellis spokesperson.

Delaney told the Review-Journal NV Energy will continue working on other portions of the transmission line as it coordinates with the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration and Bureau of Land Management.

The Air Force is currently working with the BLM to facilitate a mitigation agreement and liability waiver with NV Energy, the Nellis spokesperson wrote.

Two conservation groups, Friends of Nevada Wilderness and Basin and Range Watch, have sued multiple federal agencies for allegedly failing to consider the 62,300-acre Esmeralda 7 Solar Project as part of Greenlink West’s environmental impact statement.

Kevin Emmerich, co-founder of Basin and Range Watch, is particularly concerned about wildlife, water resources and the project’s intrusion into the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in the northern Las Vegas Valley.

“We’re worried about archaeology sites,” Emmerich said. “We’re worried about really undeveloped, pristine areas.”

The lawsuit is still in its early stages, as the defendant agencies have not yet responded to the environmental groups’ allegations.

Despite being fraught with environmental and security concerns, NV Energy confirmed it is still on track to complete Greenlink West in May 2027.

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