OPB3%
Gold mining company sues to re-route portion of $1.5B Oregon transmission line 46%
By Courtney Sherwood72%
7/15/2026, 11:58:03 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Optimism Bias, and Framing Effect, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 8.8% saturation with 57 hits. Analysis detected 530 faulty-reasoning hits from 650 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 48.6% and a BS Rank of 46% (11,055 of 20,473 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 54.00% of the article peer group.
A massive electrical transmission line critical to Northwest environmentalists’ hopes for clean energy – and possibly for data center builders’ profit ambitions – was challenged in federal court Tuesday.
Construction of the $1.5 billion Boardman-to-Hemingway line — which starts in Boardman, Oregon, and ends near Melba, Idaho — started last year after nearly two decades of planning and negotiations, and has been widely viewed as a key component of Oregon’s wind — and solar — energy ambitions.
Malheur Mining Co. is suing to stop the transmission line from crossing federal land where the company says it has the right to mine for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold.
The line’s eastern stretch is being built by Idaho Power, with the western portion being built by PacifiCorp,
The mining business says Idaho Power has already poured concrete on some of those sites.
Malheur Mining – which says it first staked claims in the Bureau of Land Management’s Vale District in 1986 – is asking for damages “up to or in excess of” $184 million, and says builders of the line must re-route part of the 271-mile-long project to avoid those mining claims.
Idaho’s growing population and increasingly hot days have brought more demand for energy during the high heat of summer.
Meanwhile, PacifiCorp’s Oregon customers use more electricity during cold winter days, when they crank up electric heating systems to stay warm.
The two companies intend to essentially “swap” electricity as each faces different seasonal surges in demand.
Renewable energy and data center developers are also eying the electricity the new transmission line will bring.
State regulators have said the Boardman-to-Hemingway project is necessary because of the role it can play in moving wind energy to homes and businesses in Oregon, said Emily Moore, who analyzes climate and energy for the nonprofit think tank the Sightline Institute.
“The line, if it is used by the utilities as they originally said that they were planning to use it, can help Oregon meet its clean energy goals by again bringing more clean energy into the state and sharing resources across the broader Northwest region,” Moore said.
More recently, PacifiCorp indicated it might use the line to power data centers.
Without additional transmission lines, the Pacific Northwest faces growing strain on the electrical grid that could result in rolling blackouts for residents, businesses and irrigation systems.
It’s a problem power planners have anticipated for two decades, one that’s been exacerbated by the increased electricity demand that data centers put on the grid.
Stephen J.
Odell, attorney for Malheur Mining, told OPB the company does not want to stop the transmission project.
Instead, Odell said the company is asking Idaho Power to adjust its part of the project so it doesn’t interfere with Malheur’s mining claims.
“If Idaho Power is not willing to stop its work over our ongoing mining claims, we believe we have no alternative path,” he said.
Malheur Mining is not actively mining its claims, but in its lawsuit, it estimates the gold it has the right to extract is worth $300 million after a surge in precious metal prices.
The company is suing Idaho Power and also suing the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the public land where Malheur Mining has rights.
Idaho Power spokesperson Sven Berg told OPB he had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment on its claims.
He noted the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line has faced multiple obstacles since it was proposed two decades ago.
“In every case, we’ve been able to overcome them through reasonable thought and taking them seriously, digging into possible solutions, mitigating if solutions are not possible,” Berg said.
“This is one of the most vetted projects, I would dare say, in Oregon’s history.”
BLM staff did not respond to a request for comment on the litigation.
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