Southline: Grid Deployment Office’s Critical Role in Powering the Southwest

Southline’s journey is a major undertaking. Building a transmission line across two states and six counties involves a wide range of stakeholders, physical terrain to navigate, and local and environmental challenges. While the technical aspects of such a project are significant, Southline is also anchored by robust collaboration between developers, local communities, and key government partners. This includes working with landowners whose property is directly impacted by the project, and local agencies, such as the Arizona Game and Fish Department, to find solutions that balance infrastructure development with environmental conservation and local community needs. Also included in this mix is the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO), which is providing key market support via the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) to help overcome financial hurdles that usually slow down or prevent the successful development of large-scale transmission lines. 

“From day one, we put communities and stakeholders first,” says Christina Tamayo, a developer with Grid United, a transmission development company partnering with Black Forest Partners on the Southline Project. This level of community engagement is one of the reasons why the Southline project secured DOE support.

As noted by Bill Kipp, a partner with Black Forest Partners, who grew up in the project area, “With the GDO’s backing, we’re not just building a transmission line—we’re building a stronger, more sustainable future for this region.”

The Southline Transmission Project is a prime example of how federal partnership, collaboration, and community-focused development can drive meaningful change, most notably by spurring the construction of much-needed new transmission capacity to support reliable, affordable electricity delivery across the desert southwest region. Thanks to GDO’s involvement, the Southwest will soon have access to more energy, helping to power homes and businesses for years to come.

Want to learn more? Check out our video to hear directly from the people behind this project: Powering Communities: Making Connections with Southline.

Visit our Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) page for more information about how this program will help build out new interregional transmission lines across the country. Stay plugged in with us as we continue to share the powerful work happening across the Grid Deployment Office by subscribing to our blogs and connecting with us on Facebook and LinkedIn.