Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102
§837g Transmission Lines Between Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest; Prohibition Against Construction of Lines or Related Facilities; Exceptions of Lines and Facilities Recommended by Secretary or Authorized by Congress; Authority of Secretary to Construct Other Transmission Lines Unaffected
Title 16 › CHAPTER 12F — PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONSUMER POWER PREFERENCE; RECIPROCAL PRIORITY IN OTHER REGIONS › § 837g
Summary
Federal agencies may not build or pay for electric transmission lines outside the Pacific Northwest that move power between the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Southwest. The ban does not apply to lines in the Interior Secretary’s June 24, 1964 report (supplemented July 27, 1964) or lines Congress later approves. Except for that ban, the Secretary of Energy’s current authority to build transmission lines to market power and energy stays the same.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §837g
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
No electric transmission lines or related facilities shall be constructed by any Federal agency outside the Pacific Northwest for the purpose of transmitting electric energy between the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest, nor shall any arrangement for transmission capacity be executed by any Federal agency for the purpose of financing such lines and related facilities to be constructed by non-Federal entities, except those lines and facilities recommended for Federal construction in the Report of the Secretary of the Interior submitted to Congress on June 24, 1964, as supplemented on July 27, 1964, or as hereafter specifically authorized by Congress: Provided, That, except with respect to electric transmission lines and related facilities for the purpose of transmitting electric energy between the two regions above mentioned, nothing herein shall be construed as expanding or diminishing in any way the present authority of the Secretary of Energy to construct transmission lines to market power and energy.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer of Functions
“Secretary of Energy” substituted for “Secretary of the Interior” in the proviso in text pursuant to Pub. L. 95–91, § 302(a), which is classified to section 7152(a) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 837g
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102