Community Engagement and Giving
Pattern’s involvement in the community started
early and will continue throughout the life of
the projects. Community engagement has been
quintessential for SunZia, and Pattern has sought and
incorporated feedback from local, regional, and national organizations ranging from local groups like the Save
our Bosque Task Force, to regional groups like Western
Resource Advocates and national organizations such as
Audubon National. This feedback led to better, more
environmentally compatible projects.
When the community speaks, we listen. That’s why
we’ve invested millions to support dark sky initiatives, minimizing FAA lighting on transmission towers and
installing radar systems to keep our wind farm FAA lights off until planes fly through.
Being a good neighbor benefits the communities
where we develop and the long-term success of
our facilities. Pattern’s Community Benefits Programs
support local economies and ensure regional benefits and lasting impact. We aim to be partners, from providing
sustaining donations to community-based organizations
to sponsoring valued local events like the Junior Livestock Pavilion at the New Mexico State Fair. Our contributions are also funding conservation organizations working in the Middle Rio Grande Valley to build staff capacity for the first 10 years of operations where the SunZia Transmission Project crosses the Rio Grande.
Local Job Creation
Pattern Energy strives to find ways to expand benefits for the communities where we operate. We are committed to
using qualified local and regional vendors and contractors when possible. These efforts will create more jobs and
help the community derive additional economic benefits
from the project.
3 million
100+
3,500+ MW
~550 miles
2,000+
$20.5 billion
$16.2 billion
$1.1 billion
$1.9 billion
$1.3 billion
Americans
Supplied with clean power annually
Permanent jobs
For 30+ years operating period
Construction jobs
Over approximately 2.5 years
Capital expenditure and operational expenditure, including payments to private landowners
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Purchases of goods and services resulting from the expenditures, such as food, lodging, and supplies
Payments directly to public entities, including taxes, PILOT payments, community sponsorships, federal agency payments, and state land payments
New wind energy generation
Figures represented are the results of an independent study conducted by research firm Energy, Economic & Environment Consultants LLC. ±525 kV High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line — Opening New Mexico and its vast wind resource to
export opportunities
SunZia.com
SunZia Wind and SunZia Transmission combine to
create the largest clean energy infrastructure project
in United States history, harnessing over 3,500 MW of
renewable energy. Privately developed by Pattern Energy, the projects are expected to generate $20.5 billion in total economic benefit, including more than $16 billion in direct economic investment, $3 billion in indirect and induced economic benefits across New Mexico and Arizona, and
$1.3 billion in direct payments to local governments,
communities, and schools.
Environmental Stewardship
The SunZia Wind and Transmission Projects have been
developed with a deep commitment to environmental
stewardship, following through on an extended
engagement with local, regional, and national conservation stakeholders. SunZia Transmission is setting a precedent with a gold standard in environmental mitigation
projects developed hand-in-hand with the environmental
community. SunZia Wind has established robust best
practices to reduce project impacts and study effective habitat restoration strategies in partnership with local and state experts. This work is varied in scale and subject and includes:
— Working with the conservation community to purchase
a 1,000-acre property along the Rio Grande with
significant water rights that is expected to be donated
to the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge;
— Partnering with the Arizona Department of Game and
Fish on several thousand acres of habitat restoration,
expected to include earthen tank rehabilitation,
invasive species removal, revegetation with native
species, wildcat road restoration, and erosion control; — Installing, testing, and studying an innovative
technology illuminating the transmission line with
UV light to increase the visibility for large-bodied
waterfowl, which began in 2021 in funding to ongoing
research in the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary;
— Ongoing research into sandhill crane flight behavior
in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
(USFWS), which resulted in the publication of peer-
reviewed science that can inform future transmission
line design; and
— Funding scientific research to USFWS and New
Mexico State University to understand upland bird
population declines in the desert southwest.
Commitment to Local Communities
and Environmental Stewardship
TOTAL :
Direct Economic Impact
Induced Economic Impact
Indirect Economic Impact
Fiscal Impact
SunZia Wind and Transmission Economic Impacts
LIN CO LN
LUNA
HIDAL GO
GRANT SIERRA
SOCO RR O
SAN MIGUEL
TORRAN CE
NMAZ
PINAL
Tucson
GRAHA M
COCHISE
PIMA
Phoenix
Silver City
Las Cruces
Albuquerque
SunZia
Transmission
SunZia
Wind
Economic Impacts MILLIONS
Total New Mexico Arizona
Direct $3,649 $564 $452
Fiscal Impacts $304 $117 $187
Indirect Benefits $266 $120 $147
Induced Benefits $324 $157 $168
Total Impact $4,544 $958 $953
SunZia Transmission traverses over 199 miles in five
Arizona counties, including Greenlee, Graham, Cochise,
Pima, and Pinal before interconnecting with the Western Interconnection southeast of Phoenix. Access will enable development of new renewable resources to serve
expanding renewable electricity demands.
Environmental Benefits
Arizona
Filling in the Energy Gap
SunZia wind generation is complementary to solar
generation in the Southwest, producing power in the
late afternoons and evenings when solar ramps down.
This period is the grid’s most critical time of day, and SunZia’s power will reduce the overall need for fossil
fuel resources.
Low-conflict Environmental Site
Identified by the conservation community as one
of roughly 20 areas in the western U.S. that could
provide environmentally low-conflict renewable energy
generation to meet California’s zero-carbon
electricity goals.
Public Health & Environmental Justice
Fossil fuel generation is often sited near low-income,
historically underserved communities. SunZia is part of a larger movement to relieve the burden that a coal-fired
electric grid inflicted on these communities.
Partnering for Education
Renewable energy will help support the next generation
in more ways than one—our land agreements with the
Arizona State Land Department and New Mexico State
Land Office will help each agency meet its mission goals of funding public education.
3 million Americans
Supplied with clean power, annually
7+ billion gallons of water saved*
13+ millionmetric tons of CO2 avoided*
Equivalent to:
removing ~3 million cars from the road or
taking 3 GW worth of coal plants offline
*as compared to coal-fired generation
New Mexico
SunZia Transmission originates in east-central New
Mexico. The new transmission line enables the
development of the state’s high-quality wind resource
for benefit across the western market. Torrance County
is the eastern terminus of SunZia, which then traverses 353 miles southwest into Valencia, Socorro, Sierra,
Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo counties before continuing
its path through Arizona.
The New Mexico portion of the line is being
developed in partnership with the New Mexico
Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA),
which facilitates the development of electric
transmission and storage projects.
SunZia Transmission
SunZia is the most significant clean energy infrastructure project in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
SunZia Wind represents the largest wind energy
facility in the United States. The 3,515 MW facility
will be located in Lincoln, Torrance, and San Miguel
counties in New Mexico.
Out of State Direct Economic Impact: $9,529 million
SunZia Wind
Economic Impacts MILLIONS
Total New Mexico
Direct $12,511 $2,982
Fiscal Impacts $1,037 $1,037
Indirect Benefits $1,616 $1,616
Induced Benefits $789 $789
Total Impact $15,953 $6,424
Wind energy is great for the rural community. Pattern
putting these wind turbines up and adding to the
income of the ranchers is really keeping a lot of the
ranches in their families. They’re not having to sell their cattle; they’re not having to sell their ranch. They’ve got enough supplemental income to get them through
the rough years.
Tom Spindle
New Mexico
100+
1,000+
Permanent jobs
For 30+ years operating period
Construction jobs
Over approximately 2.5 years
Out of State Direct Economic Impact: $2,633 million
353 Transmission miles
199 Transmission miles
HVDC Converter Station
Torrance County, New Mexico
HVDC Converter Station
Pinal County, Arizona