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The Electricity Commission is today expected to give its final approval to a plan to build a line of giant pylons from Waikato into Auckland to secure the city's future power needs.
And the $683 million project could also be fast-tracked by the Government to ensure it doesn't get bogged down in the resource consent process.
The pylon project has been racked with controversy since national grid operator Transpower first sought approval to string a new line between Whakamaru near Tokoroa and Otahuhu in South Auckland.
That proposal has since been altered and now includes a line upgrade through Pakuranga as well as a substation upgrade, so that Auckland is not so dependent on Otahuhu for its electricity - a risk that was highlighted in June last year when the city had a major power cut.
The new line is proposed to be commissioned in 2011. But the plan to build pylons up to 70m high through farms and lifestyle blocks has met fierce opposition from affected landowners.
The commission's job is to focus on the economic questions of whether Transpower is spending its money in the best way. People who do not like the way it has arrived at its decision will be able to seek a judicial review, but the challenge must be based on the process that led to the decision, rather than the decision itself.
The commission made headlines when it last year rejected Transpower's first attempt to win approval for the pylon project, but its then chairman, Roy Hemmingway, has since left because the Government chose not to renew his contract.
This year the commission gave notice of its intention to approve Transpower's second attempt at the project, which would see around 400 pylons put in place to carry a line initially operating at 220kV, and later cranked up to 400kV.
Delaying operating the line at full capacity has allowed Transpower to defer nearly $300 million of expenditure, and therefore made its proposal more likely to gain approval.
Transpower has been in talks to acquire land from affected landowners for some time, and has already bought several million dollars of property from people keen to sell before the pylons are added to the landscape.
Confirmation of the project today means Transpower will move swiftly to obtain resource consents.
It is that process which Environment Minister David Benson-Pope has been considering speeding up by "calling in" the project.
David Graham, chairman of New Era Energy, a farming lobby opposed to the pylons, said last nightit would oppose resource consent and take direct action if that failed.
additional reporting: Alanah May Eriksen
