What Makes Building Transmission So Hard?

Deck: 

ScottMadden

Fortnightly Magazine - October 2021
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The march toward clean energy and decarbonization continues forward. New wind and solar farms are popping up, with more waiting to be built. Other technologies are in the queue too. Clean energy targets have been boldly set. Now what?

Regulators at the federal and state levels are facing big issues regarding the building of new transmission, required to bring that new power to the people. For some answers, there is a new, important paper out. It's on the ScottMadden website, titled, Transmission in the United States: What Makes Developing Transmission So Hard?

PUF conversed with one of the authors of that report, ScottMadden partner and energy practice leader, Cristin Lyons, to flesh out the challenges involved in modern-day transmission building. Here, Lyons breaks down those difficulties, and offers key takeaways. Listen in.
 

PUF's Steve Mitnick: You and your colleagues have written an important and timely piece on getting transmission built in the U.S. Give an overview of the main points.

Cristin Lyons: The paper, Transmission in the United States: What Makes Developing Transmission So Hard?, describes why building electric transmission is difficult. We focused on five key areas. 

The first was transmission planning, which includes everything from regional planning, as it has evolved under Order 1000, to interregional planning and the underpinning for cost allocation.

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