Pattern Energy Locks Down Private Land for Bolo Transmission Line, Turns to State for Final Piece

ESTANCIA, N.M. — The last unresolved piece of a 24-mile transmission line that would tie two of New Mexico's largest energy projects together runs through state trust land in Torrance County. On Thursday, August 27, 2026, the New Mexico State Land Office and Pattern Energy took public comment regarding that transmission line.

The meeting, held at the Estancia Town Hall, covered the Bolo Transmission project, a Pattern Energy project distinct from — but adjacent to — the much larger Mid-State Transmission line project (which Pattern Energy is a part of, along with PNM) proposal that has drawn organized opposition elsewhere in the county. Bolo would connect the Western Spirit Switchyard, part of the Public Service Company of New Mexico's (PNM’s) grid near Lucy and Dunmoor, to the Pete Heinrich Switchyard on the SunZia Transmission System, which reached full commercial operation earlier this year. Both switchyards already exist. Bolo's job is to link them.

Why the state is involved

Jim Bordegarey, director of the Commercial Resources Division at the State Land Office, opened the meeting by explaining the office's role: state law requires a public meeting before the Land Office makes a final determination on any transmission line carrying more than 230 kilovolts. Bolo, a double-circuit 345-kilovolt line, clears that threshold.

The Land Office is overseen by Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard, an elected official in her second and final term who will leave office in December 2026. Bordegarey said the office manages 9 million acres of surface estate and 13 million acres of mineral estate on behalf of 22 beneficiary institutions, mostly public schools and universities, and has raised $15 billion for those beneficiaries since 2019 through projects including transmission and energy leases like this one.

Jeremy Turner, senior director at Pattern Energy, said the company has already secured 100% of the private land easements needed for Bolo's route. What remains, he explained, is the segment crossing state trust land, which is the subject of the Land Office's review.

What Bolo does, and why Pattern wants it built

Turner said Bolo would open bidirectional transfer capacity between two grid systems that currently have limited ability to exchange power outside New Mexico's Four Corners interconnections. If California or Arizona has excess solar generation, he said, utilities would be able to draw that power into the New Mexico grid through Bolo once it links Western Spirit's PNM-connected switchyard to SunZia's Pete Heinrich switchyard. While Turner avoided the term "arbitrage" to describe sending power between the New Mexico grid and the California or Arizona grid, it is an apt description of the practice he outlined: buying up cheap surplus power where it exists and moving it into a market where it is scarcer.

The company anticipates two types of structures along the route: two-pole structures near the switchyards, typically 120 to 140 feet tall, and tangent monopoles carrying both circuits elsewhere, typically 125 to 160 feet. Both structure types call for 5 to 6 structures per mile, an 800- to 1,200-foot span length, and a 200-foot easement width. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has already approved that 200-foot right-of-way width determination.

Bolo Transmission LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pattern Energy, the same corporate structure the company used for its Western Spirit and SunZia projects. A Pattern representative said the project's name reflects the shape the line traces on a map, tying two grids together like a bolo tie.

No eminent domain, and no restriction on grazing

A Pattern environmental representative confirmed that the company had made voluntary arrangements with the private landholders that granted the company easements for the projects. The route includes a single deviation, made to route around one landowner who chose not to participate.

Landowners retain the right to graze livestock and hunt within the 200-foot right-of-way. The only restriction is on permanent structures, which cannot be built inside the easement, though landowners may build up to its edge. Pattern’s representatives said the company expects minimal ground disturbance during construction, using methods that avoid excavation where possible, and plans to reseed disturbed ground with native grassland seed sourced regionally after construction.

Environmental and cultural review, and no federal trigger

Pattern representatives said the company began its environmental and cultural review process under right-of-entry permits granted by the State Land Office, which sets the standards for those surveys. The review covers three categories: wildlife and habitat assessments for state- and federally protected species; wetland and aquatic resource delineation under the Clean Water Act; and archaeological resource investigations.

Company representatives said no sensitive species habitat and very few aquatic resources exist along the route, which crosses land already heavily used for cattle grazing. They said some archaeological finds turned up during survey work, as is typical across much of New Mexico, and that the project was adjusted to avoid those sites. Cultural resource reports are filed with the state and are confidential; Pattern said its own archaeologists do not share site-specific details with the company beyond flagging locations to avoid.

Asked directly whether the project's proximity to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument triggered any additional federal review, a Pattern representative said no. The project has no federal nexus, and the route sits well away from the monument's public-facing units. Pattern also said it has reached out to tribal communities with a project area map and is collecting feedback, separate from any formal requirement under the state land process.

A separate avian risk assessment determined where to place bird diverters and marker balls along the line to reduce collision risk, incorporating the results of the wetland delineation and other site data.

Community benefits and local giving

Angela Gonzales, a Pattern community relations representative, said the company has donated more than $30,000 in Torrance County in 2025 alone, separate from tax payments and landowner compensation, supporting organizations including the Moriarty Lions Club and Bethel Community Storehouse's food pantry program. The company also described a cemetery beautification project underway in Duran with the Estancia Valley Economic Development Association (EVEDA), and said it purchased at the Torrance County Fair's junior livestock auction and supported the fair's community dinner and event buckles. When the Mountainair Dispatch pointed out that EVEDA had ceased operations over a year ago, Gonzales insisted that was not the case.

What is still open

Pattern representatives said they did not have a specific Torrance County economic-impact figure isolated for Bolo itself, since the company's most recent full analysis predates SunZia's move into commercial operation and would need to be rerun.

Unlike PNM's Mid-State Transmission project, which has not yet filed for its Public Regulation Commission approvals, Bolo's right-of-way width determination is already final. The State Land Office's decision on the state trust land easement is the one remaining regulatory step before construction on that segment can proceed.