September 2010
Every Journey Begins with a Single Step
by Keven Groenewold
About a year ago our national association, NRECA, commissioned a study to examine how much transmission would be needed to support a mandatory Renewable Electricity Standard (RES).
There is enormous pressure on Congress to include a RES in Senate energy legislation or get a commitment that such a federal mandate will be considered yet sometime by this Congress even if it is in the post election.
The study results show that in order for electric utilities in this country to meet a RES, it will require several thousand miles of new high voltage transmission lines. This creates a quandary.
Everyone supports the development of renewable energy, but few want a transmission line to spoil their vistas. And certainly no one wants a power line on their property.
One cannot happen without the other. The best areas for renewable energy development are remote—and transmission must be built to access these areas.
The markets for this energy may be several states away. So the transmission line would possibly have to be approved by multiple states. All these issues fall into the three basic categories of planning, building and paying for it.
Transmission planning is much more complex today than it was in the past. There are several transmission planning authorities overlaid across several states. Each has its own set of rules and procedures. Demonstrating benefits to each of these organizations can be herculean.
The physical building of transmission is easy. The task of finding an acceptable route is a formidable challenge. There are state and federal regulations that must be followed.
There are environmental and cultural sensitivities that must be taken into consideration. Land owners must be satisfied. And bringing all of this to a successful conclusion is a several-year process.
Finally, who gets to pay the bill? The cost of new transmission necessary to meet renewable energy development and existing load is several billion dollars. Investors won’t invest unless they are sure there will be a return.
Regulators are quick to disallow costs that do not provide a direct benefit to their constituents.
Customers do not want to see their bills go up. Assigning the transmission cost to the renewable energy project could make the project uneconomical.
These areas of concern must be solved if a federal RES is to be met. One solution is to include a transmission development process at the federal level. This is very unpopular with state and local governing bodies. But at some point in time, someone is going to have to make the tough decision.
There is some progress here in New Mexico. There are a couple of transmission projects moving forward. A statewide transmission planning taskforce was formed to address these issues. This taskforce has representation from many walks of life. And as they say—every journey begins with a single step.