Biden releases money in push to modernize US electric grid
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government said Tuesday it is making more than $8 billion available to build and improve the nation's transmission lines as part of its efforts to improve America's aging electric grid and meet President Joe Biden's ambitious clean-energy goals.
The administration is also pledging to speed up a sluggish permitting process that has delayed the types of major transmission projects that are crucial to meeting Biden's goals.
The president has said he wants the nation to produce 100% clean energy by 2035. But that goal faces massive hurdles. Those include an electric grid that has been pummeled by climate change and which needs enormous expansion to carry electricity from renewable energy sources to densely populated regions.
The Department of Energy said it will release $8.25 billion in loans for developers to improve the grid's ability to carry renewable energy from the windy, sunny plains to the regions that need it most.
“These investments will make our power system more resilient against threats and more reliable as we increase our clean energy capacity, creating thousands of jobs in the process,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, in a statement.
There will be $3.25 billion in loans available for projects that unlock renewable energy in the Western U.S. Another $5 billion in loans will support transmission projects owned by federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, including transmission to connect offshore wind.
The Department of Transportation will help speed the siting and permitting of transmission projects by facilitating the use of public highways and other transportation rights-of-way, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. It will also issue guidance that will help states build renewable energy...
