NEW ENERGY DEPENDS ON FIGHT FOR WIRES

Battle brewing over clean-energy delivery grids
Zachary Coile, March 15, 2009 (SF Chronicle)

SUMMARY
In order to deliver New Energy generated in resource rich regions of the U.S. to the population centers where it is needed, political and New Energy Inudstry leaders say a new national transmission system is necessary.

President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) are committed to building the new transmission system.

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Legislation proposed by Senator Reid would fund the new transmission and facilitate its building.

The legislation’s controversial element gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) power over state and local regulators to push through the positioning of the transmission lines.

The controvery got its first airing at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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COMMENTARY
- The transmission legislation is 1 element in the 3-part attack on the Old Energy establishment being brought by Obama and the Congressional leaders. The other 2 parts of the attack: (1) An energy bill that will push New Energy, including a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) requiring the U.S. to obtain 10% of its power from New Energy sources by 2012 and 25% by 2025, as well as an Energy Efficiency National Standard (EENS); (2) climate change legislation requiring the U.S. to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 and establishing a cap&trade system to facilitate the cuts.

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- The biggest solar energy resources are concentrated in the little-populated Southwestern deserts. The biggest wind resources are in the little-populated Midwestern plains from Texas to the Dakotas, as well as in the Pacific Northwest, on the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico and off the Mid-Atlantic coast. The biggest wave energy resources are off the Pacific coast. The biggest geothermal resources are largely in the West. There is a huge tidal energy opportunity in the Gulf Stream off Florida. There are flowing current resources on the Mississippi and other rivers. All this emissions-free domestic energy could be harvested and shared in population centers around the country with an adequate high voltage system that gives priority access to New Energy.

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- Funding for new transmission is not considered a major consideration because the value of the lines is so great private sector money will become available if public money is not.
- Presently, new transmission takes 2 years to build but it can take 6-to-10 years to resolve conflicts between state and local regulators, Not-In-My-BackYard (NIMBY) protestors and other property rights advocates, and environmentalists who, in their zeal to protect natural resources are sometimes the Build-Absolutely-Nothing-Anywhere-Near-Anything (BANANAs) label.

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- To build such a system, a central authority such as FERC must be able to cut through these conflicts. The players (from regulators to NIMBYs and BANANAs) are not sure they want that to happen.
- The Reid legislation requires the identification of "renewable energy zones" where New Energy is especially abundant. States with these zones would then be required to provide new transmission corridors and establish funding within a year or FERC could step in and do so.
- The 2005 Energy Policy Act gave FERC the power to create "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors" after the 2003 Northeast blackout but a Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia ruling recently gave states a year to issue a decision which FERC cannot override.

Senator Reid announces New Energy transmission. From SenatorReid via YouTube.

QUOTES
- Pelosi: "Many states have already begun to adopt innovative policies to move toward more clean, efficient transmission systems…But what we need is a national framework for planning, developing and financing transmission infrastructure."
- Reid: "We cannot let 231 state regulators hold up progress…They should be given every opportunity to see if we can work this out through the state regulators. If that can't be done, I think there are very few alternatives for the American people."
- Tony Clark, North Dakota top energy regulator and vice president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners: "Siting and cost allocation issues are often controversial because, in most situations, someone's gain comes at someone else's expense…"
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo): "We believe that private property owners have every right to say no to transmission lines on their land…"
- Ruth Rieman, vice chair, California Desert Coalition: "We're asking the wrong question when we ask about siting new transmission for renewables before we ask what can be saved with less consumption, greater efficiency of the current grid and locally distributed energy…"
- Carl Zichella, transmission issues authority, Sierra Club: "The goal is not to pick places that are going to be controversial…We are all working together to figure out how to get this power to market quickly so it reaches consumers in a time frame that helps us deal with global warming."
- Keely Wachs, spokesman, solar power plant developer BrightSource Energy: "There's going to be an [environmental] impact…The question is how you can minimize it."