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newsroom Wind Energy in the NewsWind Industry Testimony Receives Bipartisan Support in Senate The concept of interstate transmission highways received broad bipartisan support at a well-attended, first-ever hearing by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the critically important topic of how the continued growth of renewable energy is dependent on a robust electricity transmission grid. Four Republican and five Democratic Senators were present in the hearing room, which was full to capacity. At the June 17 hearing, AWEA Transmission Committee Chairman and Board President-Elect Don Furman of Iberdrola Renewables used the U.S. Department of Energy’s 20% wind report to articulate the economic, environmental, and energy security benefits of wind energy. He also used the report to explain that a massive investment in U.S. transmission infrastructure would be required for 20% of the nation’s electricity to come from wind. In his testimony, given on behalf of AWEA, Furman expressed support for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) transmission bill, which would broadly distribute the costs of new transmission lines built to designated “National Renewable Energy Zones,” a model similar to renewable transmission policies that have been implemented in Texas, Colorado, and California. Reid appeared at the hearing to promote his bill, S. 2076, the Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act. Furman also expressed support for policies that would allocate costs of new transmission across the broad regions that benefit from such investments, create investment incentives, provide funding for transmission in pending greenhouse gas legislation, provide for utility cost recovery, prevent states from unfairly obstructing the construction of transmission lines with regional benefits, and promote regional transmission infrastructure and system operations through the U.S. Department of Energy, federal utilities, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “In the 1950s this country united to create the national interstate highway system in order to address an increasingly antiquated transportation system,” said Furman. “I believe that a similar effort for interstate transmission highways would bring substantial benefits, prevent blackouts, and enable the nation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy security through the use of domestic renewable resources.” Also testifying was Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, who has drawn recent publicity for his plans to build a 4,000-MW wind plant in the Texas Panhandle through his company, Mesa Power, an AWEA member. Pickens testified about the tremendous potential of wind energy to increase U.S. energy security. In addition, Will Kaul of AWEA member Great River Energy testified on how the CapX transmission plan in Minnesota will make it possible to interconnect large amounts of new wind energy. At the hearing there was broad support for interstate transmission highways, with no opposition raised—a rarity in Washington during the last few months. “Getting broad bipartisan support for policy specifics is more challenging right now,” said AWEA Policy Director Rob Gramlich, “but it is important at this stage to gain such support for the vision of a transmission highway system as a necessary part of climate policy. From there, we can work with supporters on both sides of the aisle going forward on how to achieve it.” Source: Wind Energy Weekly, 20 June 2008
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