The Best Time to Plan Transmission Was 15 Years Ago. The Second-Best Time Is Now.

This statement from RMI argues that the United States must rapidly expand its long-range transmission infrastructure to cost-effectively decarbonize the economy, as the most efficient wind and solar resources are often distant from consumption centers. It supports a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) aimed at improving regional planning and cost allocation for transmission projects.

• Decarbonizing the US economy is technically and economically feasible but requires substantial infrastructure investment, specifically long-range transmission lines to move wind and solar power from low-cost locations to population centers.
• Research from Princeton, MIT, and Vibrant Clean Energy indicates that the US transmission system must expand by 50 to 90 percent to reach 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, and may need to double or triple to achieve full economy-wide decarbonization.
• Current US transmission planning is insufficient; only 22 significant shovel-ready projects exist, which would only increase current capacity by 11 to 12 percent if completed.
• Inadequate planning has led to interconnection queues containing approximately 1,000 GW of wind and solar capacity and over 400 GW of storage, exacerbated by grid planners assuming slow growth for renewables and focusing on local rather than joint regional planning.
• FERC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) seeks to address planning barriers by requiring long-term, forward-looking regional planning and enabling planners to consider a broader range of benefits—such as resilience and emissions reductions—for project selection and cost allocation.

APA

RMI (2022). The Best Time to Plan Transmission Was 15 Years Ago. The Second-Best Time Is Now. https://rmi.org/resources/the-best-time-to-plan-transmission-was-15-years-ago-the-second-best-time-is-now/

Chicago

RMI. The Best Time to Plan Transmission Was 15 Years Ago. The Second-Best Time Is Now. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/the-best-time-to-plan-transmission-was-15-years-ago-the-second-best-time-is-now/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=The Best Time to Plan Transmission Was 15 Years Ago. The Second-Best Time Is Now. |date=22 April 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/the-best-time-to-plan-transmission-was-15-years-ago-the-second-best-time-is-now/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2022best, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Best Time to Plan Transmission Was 15 Years Ago. The Second-Best Time Is Now.}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/the-best-time-to-plan-transmission-was-15-years-ago-the-second-best-time-is-now/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }