The Southwest Intertie Project will include not only power lines but also fiber lines from Las Vegas to Ely to Boise.
The One Nevada Transmission Line (ON Line), a new power transmission line from Las Vegas to Ely, broke ground this week. ON Line is the first phase of the Southwest Intertie Project, which will reach all the way from Las Vegas to Boise.
Included in the $510 million ON Line build is approximately $10 million for fiber optic communications. The overhead fiber optic is only to be used for managing the new power lines, but if the fiber-optic lines were expanded, they could provide a new long-haul data communications path for Nevada.
Currently, long-haul communications between southern and northern Nevada have to travel roundabout through California to the west or Utah and Idaho to the east; there is no telecommunications carrier path directly through Nevada. A direct line from Las Vegas to Ely could improve performance and reliability of data and phone communications between northern and southern Nevada.
