Grid

Thanks to federal funding and pending legislation, momentum is building behind a national transmission superhighway meant to propel America to a repowered clean energy future, but the end result in the Northeast may be just the opposite.

The rules proposed to help the nation tap abundant wind and solar resources in Western states will effectively open vast new markets in New England and Mid-Atlantic states to the cheapest, dirtiest power from aging coal plants in the Midwest and Appalachia.

Further, transmission legislation now before the Senate or about to be introduced excludes support for lines that would reach offshore wind resources along the Atlantic coast. The constant ocean winds, relatively shallow water and proximity to heavily populated cities make offshore wind one of the most promising sources of clean energy in the nation.

Lawmakers behind the legislation are from Western states, and they are thinking first about tapping solar and wind energy in the Southwest and upper Midwest. That leaves utility companies, which have had a clear edge in writing the complex rules, supporting onshore corridors in the East that also happen to provide an easier path to profitability for their aging coal plants.

“There’s enormous financial incentive for the oldest and dirtiest coal plants to access markets through transmission,” said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC). “Unless we have a change in transmission rules, all this work on the national grid will mostly result in just more coal-fired power.”