The White House announced plans on the 28th (local time) that the federal government and 21 state governments will work together to modernize the electricity grid needed for affordable and clean energy supplies.
Currently, demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. due to the revival of the manufacturing industry, the spread of electric vehicles, and the expansion of data centers needed for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, and electricity grids are as important as new power plants to meet this demand. Thanks to the Biden administration’s incentives, investments in clean energy such as solar and wind power have increased significantly, but the transmission and distribution networks that will carry electricity generated here to companies and households are old and insufficient. No matter how much electricity is generated by solar and wind power, it will become useless if it cannot be supplied through the electricity grid to areas that lack electricity.
CNN reported that solar power generation has more power than electricity generation currently connected to the grid and pointed out that the U.S. has a big clean energy problem. The aging grid is vulnerable to severe weather such as storms, which can cause frequent power outages. The White House plans to modernize and expand the grid in various ways. First of all, it plans to replace existing power lines with high-voltage lines so that they can carry more electricity without having to build new ones.
The government has decided to ease the burden of environmental impact assessment when upgrading existing power lines. CNN reported that the U.S. Congress has not agreed on a new bill to expand electricity grids since it passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes a budget for electricity grid investment two years ago. With Congress not coming forward, the Biden administration has attempted to take measures that can be done at the administration level, such as upgrading the existing power grid. Meanwhile, the White House explained that the Biden administration’s efforts have led to the start of 10 large-scale power line construction projects since 2021, and almost 20 GW of electricity generation is expected to be connected to the electricity grid when completed.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
