High Voltage, High Reward Transmission

The report finds that large-scale transmission projects in the US are cost-effective, with analyzed projects delivering benefits that exceed their costs and often surpass original expectations and regulatory standards.

• An analysis of seven regional and inter-regional transmission projects across the US, spanning from California to Oklahoma, indicates that every project delivered benefits that exceeded its costs, resulting in lower electricity costs and improved grid reliability.
• Transmission projects designed for economic benefits outperformed original planning expectations and all significantly exceeded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) benefit-to-cost ratio standard of 1.25. Furthermore, the three projects that had pre-existing benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) exceeded the ratios anticipated in their original plans.
• Large-scale projects driven by reliability needs provided unintended economic benefits; while not mandated to meet FERC's 1.25 benefit-to-cost standard, these projects still approached or exceeded that threshold.

APA

RMI (2025). High Voltage, High Reward Transmission. https://rmi.org/resources/high-voltage-high-reward-transmission/

Chicago

RMI. High Voltage, High Reward Transmission. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/high-voltage-high-reward-transmission/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=High Voltage, High Reward Transmission |date=26 February 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/high-voltage-high-reward-transmission/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025high, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{High Voltage, High Reward Transmission}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/high-voltage-high-reward-transmission/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }