An OpenMinds NextGen student team working with Grid United, a merchant transmission developer, looked for ways to speed up U.S. transmission expansion. The five students, from MIT, Columbia, Arizona State, Harvard and Stanford, examined the case for permitting reform and how merchant developers can get ready for it.
Key points
- U.S. transmission expansion has fallen from 3.3% a year in 1978-1982 to about 1% a year over the past decade. Meeting the IRA's targets alone would require 2.3% a year.
- Data center electricity use is projected to rise from 4.4% of total U.S. usage in 2023 to between 6% and 12% by 2028.
- Fragmented state-by-state permitting, lengthy environmental reviews and complex cost allocation slow projects. The bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act (EPRA) did not advance, but its key provisions could be adapted or revived.
- Merchant developers can prepare by spotting newly feasible routes early, building relationships for high-opportunity lines, using advisory work to build market intelligence and considering acquisition of a strategic utility.
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