Proposed Renewable Energy Wind Project in the Southwest Reaches New Milestone

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a Final Environment Impact Statement (FEIS) on April 10, 2020, for the proposed Borderlands Wind project along the New Mexico and Arizona border. The recently released FEIS is an important milestone for the renewable energy wind project, and authorizes Borderlands Wind, LLC, to construct, operate, and maintain, an up-to-100-megawatt commercial wind energy generation facility in Catron County, NM.

Borderlands Winds LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Inc., is working with Tucson Electric Power in Arizona, to provide up to 100 megawatts of electricity to the state. This is enough to power up to 30,000 homes in Arizona.

“Defenders of Wildlife supports responsibly-sited renewable energy projects that minimize impacts to wildlife. We are encouraged by interest in developing wind energy that can play a crucial role in our transition to renewable energy,” said Bryan Bird, Southwest program director for Defenders of Wildlife.

Arizona has set a renewable energy goal for utilities to generate at least 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. And the Borderlands Wind Project would be an important contributor towards helping Arizona achieve their renewable energy goals.

“We look forward to working with Borderlands Wind, LLC, to make sure that the project adopts science-based conservation measures to help address impacts to wildlife in New Mexico including birds and bats,” said Rupak Thapaliya, policy analyst, renewable energy and wildlife for Defenders of Wildlife.

The final EIS published in the Federal Register, is now open until May 11 for a 30-day comment period. It is anticipated that BLM will issue the final approval of the Borderlands Wind project this summer.