A Nebraska utility says the new route for a proposed oil pipeline that would carry Canadian crude oil through the state will delay work on electric transmission lines for the pipeline.

Nebraska Public Power District officials say they won’t be able to build the transmission lines by the deadline TransCanada set for the end of 2014.

The Associated Press reports 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.