Power Line Controversy

It was only yesterday that I was ruminating as to why it seemed like there weren't more protests over high speed power lines (as opposed to all of the protests against wind turbines). Therefore it was to be expected that I open up the paper today and there it is, an article about a protest against, you guessed it, high voltage power lines. It's not that I am surprised to be proved wrong, but I keep hoping it will take longer than this. Oh well!

Anyway, the controversy is about a project to run a power line from Oneida County in northern New York to Orange County in southern New York. The project is a significant one, its proposed cost is $570 million but we all know it will be a lot more than that once the inevitable cost overruns kick in. The fact that utility companies are pushing for more power lines is not necessarily anything new. Energy demand continues to increase in the U.S. given our unbridled energy consumption. No what struck me as interesting about the proposal was the argument the utility company put forth for doing it. Their primary argument for creating the new transmission line was that it would allow them to better develop renewable energy resources in northern New York which has good access to hydropower and better potential for wind energy. They argue that by going to renewable energy resources the overall cost of energy for the region will be reduced.

I have to admit that I am a bit torn about this proposal. That probably has something to do with the fact that my trust level when it comes to utility companies is something less than zero. It would be just like the utility companies to justify their plans using a "green" argument and then once all the dust has settled build a bunch of coal energy plants in northern New York. At minimum I would demand that in return for the rights to run the power lines the utility company be required to actually build the alternative energy plants. And I would make it a very, very binding contract given their penchant for weaseling out of legal commitments.

At the same time I have long ago concluded that the U.S. is going to need to completely rethink its plans for the national utility grid as we enter the era of post peak oil and natural gas. The reality is that when you are importing oil or natural gas using a fairly sophisticated highway system (and a pathetic rail system) then you can put your electric plant anywhere in the U.S. you want that is convenient given the electric grid. However, as we move towards renewable energy sources like wind, solar and hydro you have to put your plants where the energy sources are and the power grid has to be adjusted to fit this.

When I attended the Solar 2007 Conference in San Diego last October one of the more interesting presentations was on the topic of Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) plants for generating electricity. These plants are straightforward, well proven technology, and unlike many renewable energy approaches, already at a level where they are competitive with traditional approaches to generating electricity such as natural gas or coal. However, one of the key points the speaker made was that before we could leverage these types of plants the structure of the electric grid in the southwestern U.S. would have to be re-thought because these types of plants need to be in positioned in desert areas where there is lots of sun, lots of heat, plenty of cheap land and some type of power grid. So when you look at it, the idea of re-routing transmission lines or creating new ones to better leverage renewable energy is probably a good thing. I am a big believer in trying to generate energy locally whenever possible but I have a hard time believing that local projects will be sufficient to handle high density parts of the U.S. such as the northeast and southern California. Therefore any realistic solution probably calls for a power grid. It just needs to be the right kind of grid!