The U.S. Department of Energy held another one of its wonderfully transparent webinars where it revealed its game plan for concocting a National Transmission Plan Study as required by Green New Deal laws passed last year. Such information was presented to "the public" and only a select few were allowed to question or comment on it. Regular folks were not among the anointed.
The chat, where attendees were urged to ask questions, was disabled. That's how we pretend "transparency" without actually providing it. But you are allowed to submit your comments via the DOE's website (see link at the bottom of the page) although it's a bit like screaming down a well. Your comments are never acknowledged or affirmed.
DOE says its plan is supposed to "complement" existing regional transmission planning under FERC's bailiwick, and not take its place. However, DOE says its goal is to "get steel in the ground" by identifying and funding new projects using all that taxpayer cash the new law allows them to dole out. Identifying and financing new transmission DOES interfere with regional planning because those are the projects that greedy developers will flock to, not the regionally planned projects that are actually needed to keep the lights on. So much prevaricating....
DOE says that building new industrial scale wind and solar are the only "needs" it is considering for a new suite of massive transmission projects. By doing this, DOE is putting its thumb on the scale and selecting certain kinds of generation over other possibilities, such as distributed generation, gas, hydrogen, carbon capture or nuclear. DOE is not considering any other forms of generation except utility-owned solar and wind. DOE even admitted that without its plan and subsidies that more distributed generation would get built, so therefore DOE is trying to cripple distributed generation in your local area.
When asked how this plan fits with the plan to build offshore wind, which needs a different kind of transmission, DOE dismissed that, saying that a different DOE planning exercise is in the works for that and they are not considering it. DOE is at war with itself, pushing two different plans for two very different generation possibilities. While the National Transmission Planning Study is looking at massive new lines stretching eastward from the Midwest, the Offshore Wind Transmission study is looking at shorter lines from the offshore wind generators to the eastern cities who will use the power. Which one will win? We don't need both. DOE doesn't care which one is ultimately selected, it's just busy spending taxpayer money conducting two very different studies that are in conflict with each other. This is the epitome of waste!
The DOE "scientist" even said its plan was "a bit of an artificial thing because of how the program works." The program is all about reaching artificial goals and doesn't let any nasty reality intrude. It doesn't consider anything other than a bunch of new industrial solar and wind generators in the Midwest, and it makes no accommodations for siting impediments that could insert a little reality into their "plan." Only the DOE's artificial fairy tale of what future generation looks like is considered. This fairy tale isn't going to have a happy ending.
Here's some maps of what the "program" spit out as likely new transmission corridors. Notice how all the lines go from the Midwest to the east? That was confirmed as the DOE's National Transmission Plan. Generate power in Midwestern states and ship it over new transmission lines to eastern cities.
DOE says its plan is supposed to "complement" existing regional transmission planning under FERC's bailiwick, and not take its place. However, DOE says its goal is to "get steel in the ground" by identifying and funding new projects using all that taxpayer cash the new law allows them to dole out. Identifying and financing new transmission DOES interfere with regional planning because those are the projects that greedy developers will flock to, not the regionally planned projects that are actually needed to keep the lights on. So much prevaricating....
DOE says that building new industrial scale wind and solar are the only "needs" it is considering for a new suite of massive transmission projects. By doing this, DOE is putting its thumb on the scale and selecting certain kinds of generation over other possibilities, such as distributed generation, gas, hydrogen, carbon capture or nuclear. DOE is not considering any other forms of generation except utility-owned solar and wind. DOE even admitted that without its plan and subsidies that more distributed generation would get built, so therefore DOE is trying to cripple distributed generation in your local area.
When asked how this plan fits with the plan to build offshore wind, which needs a different kind of transmission, DOE dismissed that, saying that a different DOE planning exercise is in the works for that and they are not considering it. DOE is at war with itself, pushing two different plans for two very different generation possibilities. While the National Transmission Planning Study is looking at massive new lines stretching eastward from the Midwest, the Offshore Wind Transmission study is looking at shorter lines from the offshore wind generators to the eastern cities who will use the power. Which one will win? We don't need both. DOE doesn't care which one is ultimately selected, it's just busy spending taxpayer money conducting two very different studies that are in conflict with each other. This is the epitome of waste!
The DOE "scientist" even said its plan was "a bit of an artificial thing because of how the program works." The program is all about reaching artificial goals and doesn't let any nasty reality intrude. It doesn't consider anything other than a bunch of new industrial solar and wind generators in the Midwest, and it makes no accommodations for siting impediments that could insert a little reality into their "plan." Only the DOE's artificial fairy tale of what future generation looks like is considered. This fairy tale isn't going to have a happy ending.
Here's some maps of what the "program" spit out as likely new transmission corridors. Notice how all the lines go from the Midwest to the east? That was confirmed as the DOE's National Transmission Plan. Generate power in Midwestern states and ship it over new transmission lines to eastern cities.
Don't like this garbage? Write to your elected representatives and let them know! DOE's National Transmission Planning Study is a wasteful fairy tale that is never going to happen. But, hey, what do these little government functionaries care? They're drawing a paycheck and they don't live anywhere near any of these new lines.
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