California.

A federal judge in California recently dismissed a lawsuit aimed at stopping construction of a major bond-financed transmission project connecting California and Oregon.

Gregory Bowers, a Seattle-based engineer, argued in the lawsuit filed last summer that the U.S. Department of Energy should prepare a supplemental statement on the environmental and economic impact of the a decision earlier this year by the California Public Utilities Commission. That decision barred three large private utilities from owning part of the new line. Mr. Bowers alleged that the loss of the private utilities diminished the economic rationale for the project.

Federal District Court Judge Edward Garcia dismissed the suit late in September, saying Mr. Bowers lacked standing to bring the action.

The Transmission Agency of Northern California, a joint powers authority comprising 13 public entities, sold $283 million of long-term bonds last year to finance its share of the California-Oregon Transmission Project. The agency plans to complete the project -- whether or not the private utilities participate -- because of expected power cost savings.

The line is scheduled for completion in late 1992.

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