Posted 12.01.2009

State of the state: Energy

New energy push demands expansion of transmission lines

By Allen Best

Giant wind turbines have become the glamorous icons for renewable energy. But will giant electrical transmission lines ever become half as sexy? They’ll have to, said speakers in October at the Colorado New Energy Economy Conference.

“If you’re going to be for renewable energy generation, you have to be for transmission,” said Marc Spitzer, who sits on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates interstate transmission of electricity and natural gas.

Electrical demand comes mostly from cities. Renewable energy, however, can be found mostly in sparsely populated areas, including the nation’s wind alley from North Dakota to Texas. Colorado lies on the margins.

Gov. Bill Ritter, in a keynote address, said development of a new transmission infrastructure remains a key challenge to development of wind, solar and geothermal sources in Colorado, but also the state’s natural gas. With improved transmission, he said, Colorado can become a net exporter of renewable energy.

Ritter alluded to the High Plains Express, a transmission line being discussed that would originate in eastern Wyoming, sweep southward across Colorado and into New Mexico and then Arizona, delivering wind and solar power to Las Vegas, Phoenix and other major cities.

Experts say outputs of wind and solar energy, variable by nature, can be balanced with a much better connected grid, reducing how much natural gas generating power must be provided as a backup.

But transmission lines remain controversial, especially in areas that do not directly benefit from them. In Colorado, for example, property owners in Huerfano County have blocked construction of a line to deliver electricity from solar farms near Alamosa to the Front Range. In the case of multiple states, such disagreements can become magnified.

Environmental groups say impacts should be incorporated into transmission planning at the outset. William Burnidge, The Nature Conservancy’s Northeast Colorado project director, said some areas must be avoided altogether. In other places, however, “we want to have thoughtful conversations.”

Matt Heimerich, a Crowley County commissioner in Crowley County, located east of Pueblo, said eminent domain should be a tool of last resort in transmission building. But he believes transmission lines can be built through regional collaboration. “We like electricity,” he said.

Colorado-reared Kristina M. Johnson, an undersecretary for energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, said that modernization of the U.S. electrical grid will be needed if renewables are to deliver 35 percent of all electrical generation by 2030.

However, she added, the grid is already advanced enough to accommodate a generation of plug-in hybrids, she said.

Enjoy this article? Sign up to get ColoradoBiz Today, our e-mail newsletter that delivers exclusive editorial material, video interviews of area newsmakers and executives, and original business articles straight to your inbox.

• Page 1

Last updated on Nov 29, 2009 at 09:44 PM

• Email
• Share