Hurricane devastation underscores the importance of permitting reform

As the nation takes full account of the devastation caused by the Hurricanes Helene and Milton one-two punch across lower Appalachia and Florida, one element of the reckoning is the threat that extreme weather poses to our electric grid’s reliability.

For Helene alone, Georgia Power reported over 5,000 utility poles needing repairs or replacement and over 500 transformers damaged. Across the region, customers reported 4.6 million power outages. And a month after the storm, some 23,000 people are still without power, according to the Department of Energy’s latest report.

And this is no anomaly. Extreme weather of all sorts — not just hurricanes but also lingering cold snaps and heatwaves — is pushing our grid to its limits. Winter Storm Uri in 2021 made national headlines as Texas’ energy grid faltered in the face of record demand and an energy system ill-equipped to deal with lingering freezing temperatures. But other parts of the country could have helped.

Each additional gigawatt of transmission transferred between ERCOT and the Southeastern United States could have saved nearly $1 billion in costs while keeping the heat on for hundreds of thousands of Texans. Other parts of the Central United States could also have avoided power outages while saving consumers over $100 million. 

Compounding the issue, the poles and wires that power our lives are buckling under the demands of the 21st century — even in the absence of a storm. Designed with a 50-year life expectancy, many of these transmission lines have already exceeded that limit.

Federal transmission policy needs to adapt to this changing world. As we rebuild from the most recent storms, we can’t rely on the same old process and priorities; we need to make sure that we do it in a way that enhances the grid’s reliability and interconnection. That will take federal action from both the executive and legislative branches of the government — ideally before January. 

Earlier this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission introduced reforms to the way the federal government regulates the energy industry, making changes to the commission’s processes for interconnection, regional planning, and cost allocation. These reforms require transmission planners to adopt a forward-looking approach — considering needs up to 20 years into the future — to ensure that future grid reliability is given equal importance to today’s needs, particularly in light of increasing extreme weather events.

Those rulemakings represent concrete improvements to how the grid is managed, but more needs to be done. As FERC Chairman Willie Phillips told a room full of transmission policy advocates last month, the commission should next tackle interregional planning and cost allocation later this year.

The U.S. is geographically unique and diverse, and we should leverage the full range of our nation’s power resources to enhance grid reliability, especially during times of stress. Strengthening connections between regions — as well as between the eastern and western grids of the United States — can provide critical support during crises, ensuring we keep the lights on when it matters most.

While executive branch action is valuable, the most enduring way to strengthen grid reliability is through meaningful permitting reform, which needs to happen through Congress.

Transmission policy is essential to the future of manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and clean energy deployment, and will shape the economic potential of the 21st century. However, this potential can only be realized if we can build the necessary infrastructure.

Proposed bipartisan permitting reform legislation in both the Senate and the House offers a path to streamline the deployment of transmission infrastructure, centered on grid reliability. By shortening the environmental review process — while upholding the highest environmental standards — these reforms can provide developers with the certainty needed to attract investments and bring projects to completion.

The upcoming lame-duck session presents an ideal opportunity for Congress to enact these reforms as part of must-pass legislation. Opportunities to advance bipartisan transmission policies are rare, but extreme weather events won’t wait for the perfect proposal. Let’s seize this chance to strengthen our energy grid before the next major storm hits.

Christina Hayes is the executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. The opinions represented in this contributed article are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the views of Latitude Media or any of its staff.