Trans-Elect's New Transmission Development Co. (NTD; Reston, Virginia) announced that Steag Power (Houston, Texas) is interested in building a generation facility that will produce up to 1500 MW of electricity in the Four Corners area and moving its power over the Navajo Transmission Project (NTP), a joint-development project between Trans-Elect's NTD and the Navajo Nation's Dinè Power Authority (DPA). Steag has agreed to aggressively pursue customers and permits for its intended coal-fired generation.

The announcement was made at a public conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, by executives from Trans-Elect NTD, Steag and DPA. The conference is introducing the previously announced 470-mile (756-km) NTP transmission project that stretches across four states to potential utility and energy customers in the region.

The new generation project's announcement is a critical first step in efforts by Steag to secure commitments from customers to use the new capacity and transmission. Steag will take the lead in developing the generation project and will seek additional partners.

In addition, Trans-Elect's NTD currently is pursuing other potential users of the line with special emphasis on renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar. It is well known that the lack of available transmission has been a major impediment to expanding the use of renewable energy in the United States, and Trans-Elect's NTD is committed to seeking renewable energy resources for the transmission lines that the company develops.

As Trans-Elect's NTD and Steag secure additional commitments, each company will secure the final permits for construction of the NTP line and the generation facility.
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