New Report | Building a New Grid Without Legislation: A Path to Revitalizing Federal Transmission Authorities in the United States

Source: New Report | Building a New Grid Without Legislation: A Path to Revitalizing Federal Transmission Authorities

FOREWORD

Zero-carbon electricity will be the backbone of a net-zero economy, not only keeping the lights on in our homes and offices but also powering our transportation systems and industrial processes. Indeed, research indicates that in order to decarbonize the economy at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable time frame, we must rapidly decarbonize and grow the power sector.

Electricity—how it is generated, moved along the transmission and distribution grids, and used—is already undergoing a rapid transformation in the United States. This transition has been supported over the last decade by steep cost declines for wind, solar, and battery technologies as well as cheap natural gas produced via hydraulic fracturing. But the transition to a net-zero power sector needs to accelerate to mitigate climate change, which is already impacting the health of people around the country and world.

New long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines will be vital if the United States is to decarbonize the power sector and to integrate new renewable energy technologies cost-effectively, as well as electrify our economy in time to meet the targets established in the Paris Agreement. Because Congress may not take timely action to remove barriers to these power lines, policy makers and the incoming Biden administration should explore how the federal government could use existing authorities to foster new long-distance transmission line development.

This paper seeks to explain steps that the federal government—particularly from within the US Department of Energy and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—could take to facilitate development of a future grid that is capable of supporting a reliable, affordable, and increasingly zero-carbon power sector. Consistent with the mission of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University to advance smart, actionable, and evidence-based energy and climate solutions through research, education, and dialogue, the goal in publishing this paper in partnership with NYU School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity is to provide insights that are useful to policy makers in the format and time frame needed.

We hope that this report contributes to supporting informed dialogue on potential tools for building a sustainable power sector in the United States.

Dr. Melissa C. Lott
Senior Research Scholar & Lead, Power Sector and Renewables Research Initiative, Center on Global Energy Policy Columbia SIPA