New Pipeline Route May Delay Construction of Electric Lines for - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CD-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings

Nebraska Public Power District officials are saying the change in routes for the proposed TransCanada oil pipeline will delay work on the electric transmission lines for the pipeline.

Officials say the lines won't be done by the end of 2014, the deadline TransCanada set for the project.

NPPD Chief Operating Officer Tom Kent says there's no way the transmission lines will be ready by 2015.

TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline will carry Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast if it can win President Barack Obama's approval.

Environmentalists have opposed the project because they worry the pipeline could contaminate groundwater reserves and threaten ecologically sensitive areas in Nebraska and other states along its 1,700-mile path.