If you build it, they will come....but who will pay?

In April, Ron Asche, Nebraska Public Power District’s CEO, addressed the Loup Power District Board of Directors and said transmission planning is a real and challenging concern. He said he believes if national renewable goals are to be met; a national energy transmission plan will have to be designed and implemented. “Finally, how is this going to be financed, and who will be ultimately responsible for the debt incurred in the development of this system,” Asche asked. “Will Nebraska ratepayers be asked to guarantee the debt, or will capital be available to private developers? (Columbus Telegram; Columbus, NE, April 23, 2009)

Transmission proponents are focusing on wind, though, because (currently) environmentally friendly projects sit better with the public. Nobody would say, ‘We want to build a transmission line for coal.” It's much better to talk about it being for wind. Supporters of wind power said the need for transmission capacity is real. How do we deal with the growing LOCAL opposition to building transmission lines?

In early March, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced a bill that would give the federal government authority to grant permits for new electric transmission lines, trumping states’ jurisdiction on the matter. The stimulus package allotted $11 billion dollars for transmission builds but regional grid operators say that at least $80 billion in new transmission infrastructure spending would be needed to get 20 percent of the eastern U.S.’s electricity from wind by 2024. (source: http://www.jcspstudy.org/)

Since electricity cannot be stored in large quantity, the transmission system must work 24 hours a day in tandem with the generation system to meet the needs of the growing demand for electricity. As with other components of utility infrastructure, siting and building transmission lines are very difficult.

Adding large transmission lines also requires state regulatory approval, which involves significant permitting, research and modeling data, environmental information, cost comparisons, analyses of various options, discussions of scenarios and criteria used in evaluation, and other information.

Everybody wants electricity, but nobody wants the transmission line in their back yard. Listen to NPRs “Building Power Lines Creates A Web Of Problems.”

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District