Advanced Energy Perspectives

From the earliest days of AEE, we’ve operated under the principle that if we can remove the barriers preventing the adoption of clean energy, and allow our industry to compete in the market, then the businesses we represent will provide a secure and affordable energy future and stimulate a robust and globally competitive economy. Our work at AEE is to improve or introduce policies that lead to new market opportunities for clean energy. Sometimes, however, the barriers go beyond public policy and exist due to a complex combination of policy, politics, and even physical obstruction. One clear example is transmission, and the significant barrier it represents for our industry. If we do not meaningfully improve and expand the electrical transmission infrastructure in this country, then we, as a nation, in our regions, and in our states, won’t be able to connect clean energy resources to meet rapidly growing energy demand, and we won’t be able to reach the goal of 100% clean energy or electrified transportation. Addressing this barrier is a monumental task — and it’s a problem our team knows how to tackle. That is why, on October 27, AEE launched a campaign to enable and promote solutions.

For the second time this year, Nevada’s energy leaders are convening to discuss the future of Nevada’s transmission system. Born from bipartisan (and AEE-supported) Senate Bill 448 (2021), the Regional Transmission Coordination (RTC) Task Force is charged with studying issues and policies related to transmission development and regional electricity markets for the Silver State. At the meeting today, the Task Force will hear about several competing efforts to create a more efficient and affordable western grid. There will be presentations from the California Independent System Operator, the Southwest Power Pool, and the Western Power Pool – each vying for Nevada’s attention and consideration. And while the exact contours of the West’s “Grid of the Future” remain to be determined, the benefits of a west-wide power system are becoming increasingly clear.

The growth of renewable energy has been accompanied by a worrisome trend: rising delays and wait times for projects asking for connection to the grid. These holdups lead to canceled projects, lost jobs, and wasted effort. Without changes to interconnection, this trend will only worsen, as the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and rising fuel costs for conventional generation accelerate advanced energy adoption. Earlier this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) took the first step toward streamlining the interconnection process, but there is a long way to go.

On July 25, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Board of Directors approved an ambitious long-term plan to expand transmission infrastructure in the MISO North and Central regions (now called MISO Midwest) to serve growing demands for renewable energy and improve system reliability. The Long-Term Regional Transmission Plan (LRTP) is the second such major long-term regional transmission plan approved by MISO in the past 12 years, building on the Multi-Value Projects (MVP) transmission plan approved by MISO in 2011. MISO’s long-range planning efforts in MISO Midwest can serve as a national model for how to conduct long-range transmission planning to meet the needs of a changing generation resource mix. Meanwhile, the fact that the MISO South region will not see a similar plan until 2024 at the earliest demonstrates the challenges that must be overcome to ensure such effective planning happens everywhere – and leads to development of the transmission needed for a clean energy future.

The need to deploy vast new supplies of advanced energy technologies to achieve a 100% clean electricity system and power the transportation and building sectors with clean electricity is well documented. Expanding the nation’s electric transmission infrastructure — the long-distance high-voltage lines that deliver electricity in bulk from generation resources to local distribution networks — is a key part of achieving that goal. A variety of challenges stand in the way of transmission expansion, ranging from weak planning processes, to fights over who will pay the cost of new lines, to local permitting and siting issues. Addressing these challenges will require policy changes not just at the federal level, where recent attention has been focused, but also in states and local communities.