Advanced Energy Perspectives

Our transmission grid is overdue for an upgrade. More than 70% of America’s transmission lines are nearing the end of their 50-80-year lifespan, and the older our antiquated grid gets, the more vulnerable it becomes to failure. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office analysis, power outages have become longer and more frequent in recent years, affecting nearly three in four Americans and jeopardizing the health and safety of vulnerable people. America needs more transmission to keep up with its growing electricity needs.

This past weekend, President Biden signed a bill to raise the national debt ceiling that also included modest improvements in the permitting process for building clean energy projects. As part of the negotiation process, Congressional leaders considered policy changes to speed up the buildout of large-scale electric grid transmission, such as expanding transmission capacity between regions. Ultimately, and unfortunately, those reforms were not included in the bill.