October 26, 2009
Wiring America Up to Green Power
Should the U.S. subsidize vast high-voltage lines to transport wind and solar electricity to the big cities?
The wind howling over the Great Plains and the unrelenting Southwestern sun pack enough energy to power the entire U.S. with clean, renewable electricity. Trouble is, there’s no way to get that power from the Dakotas or Nevada to America’s big cities, many on the East Coast. As much as 300,000 megawatts worth of green power, enough to replace more than 300 coal-fired power plants, is being held on the shelf, as it were, because of the lack of transmission lines. This has sparked a movement to create “green power superhighways,” as supporters call them. “A high-voltage transmission system will cost a tiny fraction of the money we spent on the highways and do a ton more
good,” argues Joseph L. Welch, CEO of ITC Holdings (ITC), a Novi (Mich.) transmission line developer.
The idea has powerful support in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sees an expanded power line system as key not only to tackling global warming but also to creating jobs in Nevada and the rest of the West. Now, as the Senate begins deliberation on its climate bill, advocates are pushing for a national transmission effort to be part of the legislation.
