Sen. Markey lays legislative foundation for building ‘renewable energy superhighway’
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) wants to supercharge the nation with a clean energy, 21st Century electrical grid.
The senator on March 17 sponsored a sweeping bill that would establish critical electricity infrastructure needed to improve reliability, lower costs for ratepayers, and spur clean energy innovation.
“For the United States to run on green energy, we first need to build green infrastructure,” Markey said on Thursday. “Right now, the United States relies on two-lane roads for our electricity traffic when we need a renewable energy superhighway.”
According to the text of Markey’s Connecting Hard-to-reach Areas with Renewably Generated Energy (CHARGE) Act of 2022, S. 3879, the federal government has a responsibility to combat rising transmission costs and ensure customers receive just and reasonable rates for electricity.
America’s energy sector is at a critical juncture with a rapid growth of renewable energy resources and skyrocketing public demand for clean electricity, the bill states.
“Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough power lines to bridge the physical gap between the supply (where the renewable resources are located) and the demand (population centers),” according to Markey’s one-page bill summary. “This is because the processes in place to plan and build transmission lines are fractured across many jurisdictions and shaped by incumbent utilities with highly parochial concerns.”
The result is under-planning and under-investment in the regional and interregional transmission lines that are needed for a reliable and resilient grid, according to the text of the bill.
Toward a fix, S. 3879 would establish a series of reforms through Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations or amendments to the Federal Power Act that could help the nation proactively plan and build the grid it needs across broad regions of the country.
“Industry experience, scientific studies, and modern examples of reformed electricity transmission provide confidence that new public policies and regulatory guidance will achieve more efficient and beneficial planning than the status quo,” according to the bill’s text.
Specifically, the series of FERC reforms would be designed to support planning, transparency, competition, and effective oversight of transmission networks to deliver clean electricity around the country, according to Markey.
“As the interstate highway system allows people and products to move across the U.S., our electric grid must allow for the flow of electricity from coast to coast. Senator Markey gets it,” said Zack Exley, executive director of progressive think tank New Consensus. “We are excited to stand with Senator Markey, who is once again at the vanguard of our efforts to combat climate change.”
Exley said the CHARGE Act makes necessary adjustments to the nation’s “convoluted regulatory process” and would give electric transmission the focus it deserves.
“The CHARGE Act lays the groundwork for an energy grid that can support an explosion of electric-powered vehicles and buildings, while also improving energy reliability, lowering costs for consumers, and spurring economic competition,” Markey said. “My legislation will supply America with the tools and guidance needed to turn the clean energy revolution up a notch, accelerating our shift to true energy independence that breaks our nation’s reliance on foreign oil from countries like Russia.”
“Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has given Americans a bitter lesson about our reliance on fossil energy,” added U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), one of three original cosponsors of S. 3879. “We must get off this fossil fuel roller coaster and become energy independent; no foreign dictator can tell us when the wind blows or the sun shines.”
The bill, which is also cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), would require that transmission plans prioritize lower consumer prices, decarbonization goals, severe weather scenarios, reliability and resiliency of the grid, and avoidance of sensitive environmental areas and cultural heritage sites, according to Markey’s summary.
Additionally, the bill would ensure that utilities follow through on public statements of clean energy goals.
“It’s time for Congress to make smart investments in clean energy plans that will mitigate climate change’s threat to our nation’s health and economy and create good paying, union jobs,” Warren said.
If enacted, S. 3879 also would create a reliability standard to ensure electricity continues to flow between different regions of the country during large-scale or long-duration blackouts.
And it would require open competition for new electricity generation projects and establish an advisory committee to improve governance and stakeholder participation practices of grid operators.
In addition to New Consensus, supporters of the bill include Public Citizen, Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Grid Strategies, and Digital Climate Action.
“Building long-haul transmission lines is one of the best things we can do to save consumers money, improve the reliability of the grid, and connect new clean energy resources,” said Cullen Howe, a senior advocate at NRDC. “This important legislation will give FERC the resources it needs to help break the logjam and get these much-needed transmission lines built as quickly as possible.”
S. 3879 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
