Proponents of the $3.5 billion Xayaburi project, including the Lao government and utilities in Thailand that will claim over 95 percent of the electricity, argue that the development will extend power lines into rural areas and fuel industrial growth. Assessments conducted by the Lao government have claimed that environmental impacts will be minimal and that mitigation measures, such as fish passage structures, will enable fish migration. The dam is now 21 percent complete.