We built that first 230 kV line to serve our load and provide reliability through redundancy. That is our mission. Pahrump was growing fast, and VEA did not have enough transmission capability to serve the load reliably. We built one 230 kV line from Las Vegas to Pahrump. As we continued to grow, we had to put in another 230 kV line to meet our demand and to provide even more reliability.
At that time, there were no partners who were willing to share the cost and the risk of building those lines. Now there are a number of companies that are not only willing to buy the entire system, but they are willing to pay more than twice what it cost VEA to build.
The sale of those lines does not mean that our mission changes. That mission was accomplished in 2013 when the second of the two lines was energized, and it is not going away. Whether we own that system or not, those lines will always be there to serve Valley Electric’s load and to give us reliability.
We believe the new owners of those lines can take the mission of those lines even further than Valley Electric can. What is that larger mission? Economic development and continued reliability and redundancy for Southern Nevada.