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The United States Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it would fast track the permitting and construction of seven pilot power transmission line projects, including two in Oregon.

The Boardman-Hemingway line and the Cascade Crossing Transmission Project will connect the Willamette Valley to Southwest Idaho. The move would create thousands of jobs and upgrade the nation’s power transmission infrastructure. Cascade Crossing is expected to generate 450 jobs and Boardman-Hemingway is expected to create 500.

Because of the multi-state nature of the projects wherein numerous players are involved in assuring that environmental, social and economic factors are addressed before construction can take place, permitting such projects can be time consuming and onerous. 聽According to the , no fewer than nine federal agencies are involved in permitting these projects. To expedite the process, the Obama administration recently formed the to streamline inter-agency cooperation.

Nancy Suttle, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, remarked on Wednesday:

The President wants to get America working again. 聽He is committed to cutting red tape and making immediate investments to put people to work modernizing our roads, bridges, airports, and energy systems.鈥�

With the nation’s infrastructure in a bad state and thousands of construction industry workers out of work, this is great news indeed.

courtesy of Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project