The State - News from May 26, 1986

A proposal to cross one of the more scenic valleys in the Sierra Nevada with a massive two-state power line project is dead, a utility official says. Sierra Pacific Power Co. spokesman Mike Sullivan said the proposed route through Hope Valley south of Lake Tahoe has been dropped because it is not economically feasible. Sierra Pacific and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District want to build a $130-million intertie linking northern Nevada and the Sacramento area to meet the energy needs of the two regions. Sullivan said the Hope Valley plan was dropped after the utilities learned the route also would have to cross the Mokelumne Wilderness Area, which prohibits power lines. He said the utilities would have had to extend the line even farther south to avoid the wilderness area and the extra mileage would have made the project too costly.