Energy experts eye expedition of grid projects to advance clean energy
A panel of energy experts joined with lawmakers Thursday to seek ways to speed improvements to the electric transmission system in the face of calls for a greener grid.
“We have many innovations at the ready, we just need to deploy them,” U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, said during a committee hearing Thursday called, Powering up Clean Energy: Investments to Modernize and Expand the Electric Grid.
“We know we need to act quickly. Many states are ahead of us on this and we need to catch up,” said Castor.
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), the ranking Republican on the committee, said Republicans on the panel “absolutely share the same objectives” as Democrats but are concerned with spending large amounts of money on projects that will not be cost effective. He called for fundamental changes to the permitting process for large projects.
Graves is the lead sponsor of the Building U.S. Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act, which would streamline and expedite regulatory reviews by updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to make infrastructure project reviews more efficient.
Emily Fisher, general counsel for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents the nation’s investor-owned electric companies, noted that increased transmission investment is critical to meeting the nation’s clean energy goals. A strong transmission system also helps electric companies integrate more clean energy into the grid and improve reliability and resiliency, while lowering the cost of delivering energy to customers.
“Our member companies and our labor partners can help build the transmission needed to meet and accelerate the achievement of clean energy goals. Unfortunately, the way the nation plans, permits, and pays for transmission are significant obstacles to building the infrastructure that we need quickly.”
Fisher cited three major areas that need to be addressed to expedite grid projects. The first is the planning process. The current regional planning process, according to Fisher, is hindering, not helping. A new process must be developed to get all stakeholders on the same page. The second is the permitting process, which needs to “be as clear, transparent and efficient as possible,” she said. Regulators, said Fisher, need to cut down on the amount of duplication in the review process. Federal and state regulators need to work closer together. And third, it may be necessary to broaden the scope of benefits and beneficiaries to help reduce the costs to customers.
“We have to continue to talk about permitting,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), adding, “Many of these energy projects will never come to fruition unless we create a permitting process that is efficient, timely and reasonable.”
Michael Skelly, president of transmission development company Grid United, issued a recent study identifying 22 high-voltage transmission projects that are shovel-ready and could begin construction soon if better transmission policies are enacted. These projects “need a little push,” such as a financing advantage through a transmission investment tax credit, he said. The projects would unlock jobs. “We need planning processes that take into consideration the effects of all the benefits from the transmissions process,” he said.
EEI’s Fisher noted that transmission projects typically take 7-10 years to plan, site, permit, construct, and energize, but there are many cases of projects that have taken over a decade to complete.
“We’ve been waiting 20 years for some of these things,” said U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL). “The cause is conflicts of interest between some of these groups.”
Rep. Castor noted that modernizing the electric grid is central to President Joe Biden’s jobs plan.
Donnie Colston, director of the utility department for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), said siting and permitting are the two biggest barriers to construction of energy grid projects. He said current plans to upgrade the grid should create up to 600,000 construction jobs and at least 50,000 power lineman jobs over the next 10 years.
Linda Apsey, president and CEO of Michigan-based independent electricity transmission provider ITC Holdings, said once sites are chosen and approved, producers will automatically appear by those sites. “If you build it they will come,” said Apsey.
U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) emphasized that traditional energy sources like coal and natural gas will be necessary for the grid to operate, even as the use of renewables expands exponentially.
EEI’s Fisher said diverse energy sources will still be required in the United States. “We’re focused on developing clean 24/7 resources,” she said, “but we will continue to need natural gas, coal, and nuclear.”
