“The power and energy sectors are the biggest constituents of the infrastructure sector. If you ignore them, no development will happen.”
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
We have a transmission problem in the United States, and it has nothing to do with our cars. I’m talking about the way electrical power gets from where it’s generated to where it’s used or stored (e.g. homes and businesses). As our energy demand grows (hi, AI) and we electrify more things, it’s becoming crystal clear we need more and better transmission.
Wait…don’t leave! I know this topic may seem like a snoozer, but I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to the clean energy transition.
In a nutshell, our electrical grid is old, and we also don’t have enough power lines to keep up. How much more transmission capacity do we need? Quite a bit, as it turns out. We don’t even have enough now, but the estimate is we will need 60% more by 2030, and 300% more by 2050. Wow.
The reason I call energy transmission a climate solution is there is a big backlog of clean energy projects waiting to connect to the grid. The faster we get them on board, the quicker we will lower CO2 emissions. Let this fact sink in: The amount of renewable energy waiting to come online right now is double the entire U.S. power grid!
Solving our energy transmission problem
What’s getting in the way? For starters, permitting regulations and local opposition are slowing things down. Also, upgrading this infrastructure is time-consuming and expensive. So, we need sensible permitting reform, as well as more public and private investment. New technologies can help, too.
The benefits of solving this problem include: job creation, economic growth, a boost to domestic manufacturing, more access to clean energy, and lower heat-trapping emissions. Sounds worth it, right?
What can we do?
I know I say this on repeat, but bringing up climate solutions with friends and family helps. We can also call or email our elected officials and ask them to act on permitting legislation. Because so few people reach out, each voice carries a lot of weight. I’m a fan of an organization called Climate Changemakers. They make it easy to spend a small investment of time making an impact, and their current focus happens to be this very topic.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Talk about it. Help solve it.