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White House wants a better electric grid, environmental reviews take a back seat

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The White House announced a new initiative on Tuesday, May 28, to modernize the United States’ electrical grid in response to increasing reliability challenges. The current infrastructure, strained by the demand from emerging technologies and the ongoing transition to renewable energy sources, has struggled to keep pace. The current grid experiences frequent blackouts, brownouts and vulnerabilities during extreme weather events.

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“The initiative aims to bring together states, federal entities, and power sector stakeholders to help drive grid adaptation quickly and cost-effectively to meet the challenges and opportunities that the power sector faces in the twenty-first century,” the White House said in a statement.

As part of this modernization effort, 21 states joined forces with the federal government to enhance the nation’s electrical transmission capacity and reduce outages. These improvements will help the nation access huge amounts of previously unused power. More electricity from solar panels alone is currently being left waiting to get on the grid than the entire amount of power that is actually on it.

A key component of this plan involves a process known as reconductoring. The process entails replacing older transmission lines with new, higher-capacity ones. This upgrade will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. electrical grid. The new lines have the potential to quadruple new transmission capacity by 2035.

However, modernizing the nation’s grid will likely require a substantial financial investment. Estimates for the project reach into the tens of billions of dollars. Negative environmental impacts are also associated with largescale reconductoring. Historically, the government addressed those concerns with extensive reviews, which have sometimes held projects up for years.

In a move to expedite the process, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Energy’s environmental review procedures for reconductoring projects will be simplified. This streamlined approach aims to accelerate the implementation of these critical upgrades but has raised concerns about potentially overlooking environmental impacts.

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[JACK AYLMER]

BLACK OUTS, BROWN OUTS, EXTREME weather events.

HAVING RELIABLE ELECTRICITY IN THE U-S – IS BECOMING A GREATER CHALLENGE. 

IT’S WHY THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCED PLANS THIS WEEK TO MODERNIZE THE GRID.

AMERICA’S CURRENT ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS JUST TOO OLD TO KEEP UP WITH MANY OF THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES – DEMANDING MORE AND MORE POWER. 

AND THINGS AREN’T MADE EASIER BY THE ONGOING TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES- 

INCREASED DEPENDENCE ON WHICH CAN LEAD TO RELIABILITY PROBLEMS WITH OUR OUT OF DATE POWER GRID.

NOW – 21 STATES ARE JOINING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN MAKING IMPROVEMENTS TO REDUCE OUTAGES AND INCREASE ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION CAPACITY.

TO HELP ILLUSTRATE THE PROBLEM- 

THE AMOUNT OF EXCESS ENERGY FROM SOLAR POWER ALONE, IS ACTUALLY GREATER THAN THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY CURRENTLY ON THE GRID.

BUT MAKING ALL THAT POWER ACCESSIBLE FOR AMERICANS WILL REQUIRE A LOT OF INVESTMENT.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON NECESSARY UPGRADES.

THIS INCLUDES A PROCESS WE’VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE AT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS- RECONDUCTORING.

IT’S WHERE OLDER TRANSMISSION LINES ARE REPLACED WITH NEW, HIGH POWERED ONES.

IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF OUR ELECTRIC GRID. 

RECONDUCTORING AT A LARGE SCALE COMES WITH SOME ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.

IN THE PAST – THOSE CONCERNS WERE ADDRESSED WITH EXTENSIVE GOVERNMENT REVIEWS. 

BUT WITH THIS LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION- THAT OVERSIGHT IS BEING SIGNIFICANTLY ROLLED BACK.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SAYS THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS FOR RECONDUCTORING PROJECTS WILL NOW BE SIMPLIFIED TO STREAMLINE THEIR IMPLEMENTATION.

IN SOME CASES, THOSE REVIEWS HAVE ADDED YEARS TO THE TIME IT TAKES TO COMPLETE THESE INITIATIVES.

FOR NOW IT SEEMS THE INITIATIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE IS 

TO DELIVER MORE RELIABLE AND CLEANER ENERGY TO PEOPLE FASTER-

WITH LESS ATTENTION PAID TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF DOING SO.

JACK AYLMER – STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.