The nation’s network of power lines needs to double or triple in the next decade if the clean energy revolution is to succeed, warn the U.S. Department of Energy, scientists, environmental groups and many policymakers.
Large cross-country transmission lines carrying clean energy from remote rural areas to population centers will be a key strategy for reducing emissions. But as a project in Minnesota illustrates, the grid puzzle is more complicated than that.
Transmission lines carry electricity from power plants to cities across Tennessee. Transmission lines can also carry electricity across the country — if utilities allow it.
Building more wind farms and buying more electric vehicles won't get carbon off the power grid unless we fix the grid itself. Experts say the grid needs to be modernized to be able to handle the clean-energy transition.
Without this reform, we cannot deploy wind and solar fast enough to meet our commitments to the world to cut our emissions 50% by 2030. Commitments that, if kept, will help our kids and grandkids inherit a livable planet.
