Biden administration puts $1.3 billion toward new power lines

The Biden administration is putting $1.3 billion toward bolstering the nation’s power lines while emphasizing the investment’s importance for carbon-free power. 

The funds will go toward three proposed transmission lines, the administration announced Monday. 

One transmission line would bring renewable energy from New Mexico to Arizona. The second would connect Vermont and New Hampshire to Canada. The third would connect a transmission system in Utah and Nevada.

Combined, these investments are expected to add a combined 3.5 gigawatts of additional electric capacity to the electric grid, enough to power about 3 million homes, according to the Energy Department.

“The projects will improve reliability, they’ll strengthen critical infrastructure to keep the power on during extreme weather and the projects will deliver more, affordable clean power across the country,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters Friday.

The announcement is being made in concurrence with the release of a report on electricity transmission needs. 

The Energy secretary said the report found the nation needs to “seriously build out transmission” in order to improve reliability and resilience and relieve congestion on the grid.

The funding — included in the the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — comes as the nation’s transmission capability emerges as a major hurdle in the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy sources.

New energy projects face an average wait time of up to five years to connect to the grid, according to federal energy regulators. The vast majority of these new projects are carbon-free power, including wind and solar.