Why a U.S. national electric grid would be great for the climate — and is nearly impossible
Publishing timestamp: 2023-02-22 16:16:25
Summary
Building large-scale transmission lines that carry electricity across the United States could be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also improving reliability. However, the US electric grid is a patchwork network of thousands of utility companies that exist in three separate sections that are independent of each other. This makes it difficult to plan and pay for new transmission lines. The Department of Energy is conducting a National Transmission Planning Study to look into this issue, but the results will not be published for some time. Unless the US can modernize its electric grid and update regulatory processes surrounding construction of new lines, it will be difficult to achieve climate goals. Large-scale transmission lines could reduce emissions, improve reliability, and enable regions to share power generation. However, it is difficult to determine who should pay for these lines.
Sentiment: NEUTRAL
Keywords: utilities, business news, dominion energy inc, american electric power company inc, alternative and sustainable energy, duke energy corp, climate, united states, oil and gas, pg&e corp,