Building massive windfarms and solar installations in the U.S. will be pointless without major investments in transmission lines to connect their clean energy to the grid.
The inadequate condition of the nation’s transmission infrastructure has gotten relatively little media attention, but fortunately, in this regard, lawmakers appear to be in front of the curve.
U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) have introduced legislation in the House that would make renewable electricity produced in rural areas available to urban energy users. In September, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced a similar bill in the Senate.
The House bill, called the Rural Clean Energy Superhighways Act, would improve electricity transmission from rural areas with significant renewable energy potential, while spreading the cost of construction, maintenance and operation of infrastructure throughout a region, to all beneficiaries.
Currently, the lack of sufficient electric transmission capacity in remote, renewable energy rich areas represents a major barrier to developing solar, wind, geothermal and biomass resources needed to meet clean energy standards in the electricity mix.
Twenty-five states currently have a so-called renewable electricity standard (RES), and in August, the U.S. House passed in its energy-independence package a federal RES for at least 15% renewable electricity and efficiency improvements before 2020.
The Inslee-Blumenauer legislation, which would help make the RES possible, is modeled, in part, on a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruling issued last April in response to a petition by California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO). CAISO originally went to FERC for approval of a financing mechanism to cover the cost of constructing transmission between remotely located wind projects and the rest of their grid.
Loading...