Amid eye-popping estimates of the cost of needed US electric infrastructure upgrades, the evidence so far this year suggests that progress on transmission at least is slow.
New data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) show only 98.6 miles of transmission projects were completed between January and April, which at an annual rate is far short of the 1,985 miles completed for the whole of 2011. Keep reading →
Additional wind power in the US Midwest could cut wholesale electricity prices by more than 25%, saving a typical household as much as $200 a year, proponents of new renewable energy capacity in the region said.
The analysis for the advocacy group Americans for a Clean Energy Grid found that if 20 GW was added to the existing 10 GW of wind capacity in the MISO region, consumers’ power costs would decline by $3 billion to $6.9 billion a year after the costs of new transmission is factored in. Keep reading →
Renewal and expansion of North America’s electric transmission grid has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and spur development of wind and solar energy sources if sufficient private investment is made in coming decades, industry experts said.
A study for the Working Group for Investment in Reliable and Economic Electric Systems (WIRES) has estimated US investment in the grid could be made at some $12 to $16 billion a year until 2030 if planning, permitting and cost-recovery challenges can be overcome. Keep reading →
