The Department of Energy on Wednesday announced the launch of the Building a Better Grid (BBG) Initiative, aimed at attacking the many obstacles to building out the long-distance, high-voltage transmission network that the Biden administration sees as key to decarbonizing the U.S. electric system by 2035.

“The foundation of our climate and clean energy goals is a safe, reliable and resilient electric grid that is planned hand-in-hand with community partners and industry stakeholders,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a press release. Using federal dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the initiative will “upgrade the nation’s grid, connect more Americans to clean electricity and broadband, and reliably move clean energy to where it’s needed most.”

Getting to President Biden’s goals of a decarbonized grid by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050 will require the grid to expand by 60% by 2030, according to DOE, and by three times its size by 2050. Large renewable projects in remote areas, as well as offshore wind, will need high-voltage transmission lines to efficiently bring power to urban demand centers.

But, according to the DOE, about 70% of the nation’s existing transmission lines and transformers are more than 25 years old. At the same time, hundreds of gigawatts of clean power projects sit in grid operators’ queues, unable to connect because of a lack of transmission capacity.

A 2021 study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that 750 GW of solar and wind and 200 GW of storage were backed up in U.S. interconnection queues at the end of 2020.

The need for grid flexibility and resilience has also been underlined by power outages caused by extreme weather or other catastrophic events, such as California’s wildfires, this summer’s extreme heat in the Northwest and the winter storm in Texas last February.

As detailed in a notice of intent released Wednesday, “DOE intends to launch a coordinated transmission deployment program to implement both IIJA and previously enacted authorities and funding.”

A transmission needs study will “identify where new or upgraded transmission facilities could relieve expected future constraints and congestion driven by [the] deployment of clean energy; … higher electric demand as a result of building and transportation electrification; and insufficient transfer capacity across regions.” Additional studies will look at viable pathways to a large-scale transmission system over the next 15 to 30 years, as well as transmission pathways for integrating offshore wind.

Provisions of the IIJA allow DOE to participate in public-private partnerships and to become an “anchor customer” for new and upgraded transmission lines, buying as much as 50% of a project’s planned capacity for a term of up to 40 years. The law also provides a $2.5 billion revolving fund to support the construction of new, replacement or upgraded high-capacity transmission lines, and another $3 billion in matching grants for grid-enhancing technologies, such as dynamic line ratings, flow control devices and network topology optimization.

The IIJA also gives DOE the authority to designate national transmission corridors in “any area experiencing or expected to experience electricity transmission capacity constraints or congestion that adversely affects consumers.” It also authorizes FERC to issue permits for the construction or upgrade of projects in such corridors. DOE intends to prioritize corridors that “overlap with or utilize existing highway, rail, utility and federal land rights of way.” It will also offer developers pre-application review of projects and coordinate with FERC on permitting.

‘Prioritize and Expedite’

The initiative was announced Wednesday by the Biden administration as part of a suite of energy initiatives.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland kicked off the day with the announcement of next month’s auction of six offshore wind lease areas in the New York Bight, off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. The 480,000 acres in the six lease sites, the most ever offered in a single auction, could eventually generate 5.6 to 7 GW of power. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold the auction Feb. 23. (See related story, BOEM to Open Six New Lease Areas in NY Bight.)

The Interior Department also took the lead on the rollout of a new cross-agency effort to streamline reviews of wind, solar and geothermal projects on federal land. A memorandum of understanding signed by the Interior, Agriculture, Defense and Energy departments and EPA calls for the agencies to “prioritize and expedite” reviews of these projects. Interagency teams staffed with subject matter experts will help advance environmental reviews and “accelerate renewable energy decision making,” according to the MOU.

Making a Dent

All three initiatives drew praise from Democratic lawmakers and clean energy advocates, but reactions also included calls for the Senate to pass the Build Back Better Act, which includes tax credits for a range of renewable technologies and transmission.

While applauding BBG, Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, said, “I am determined to help communities lower costs with the transition to a resilient and clean energy economy, and I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to ensure that the critical transmission investments in the Build Back Better Act reach President Biden’s desk, so he can sign them into law.” 

Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said interagency efforts to streamline permitting “will ensure the American people benefit from the best solar and wind resources this country has to offer.” BBG will “unlock the potential of America’s clean energy economy by catalyzing the nationwide buildout of the long-distance, high-voltage transmission.”

Noting that China is investing 80 times more than the U.S. in transmission, Rob Gramlich, executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, said that BBG and the federal dollars in the IIJA “could make a big dent in the national transmission challenge.”

But he also cautioned that “the funding levels are nowhere near what is required for a national macrogrid. … Congress will also need to pass the Build Back Better Act with the tax credit for regionally significant transmission because there is no way to recover costs of large interstate lines presently.”