I got an email update from Bri West of the Piedmont Environmental Council:
There are a growing number of federal bills focused entirely, or in part, on expedited transmission line planning and siting. Some have a ‘green’ energy focus, while others don’t even pretend. There are currently bills from Senators Reid, Bingaman, Dorgan and Nelson, as well as from Congressmen Markey, Waxman and Inslee.
We still think the best way to maintain a reliable grid is to do integrated resource planning (plan for generation, transmission, and distribution in a holistic way), while prioritizing solutions such as energy efficiency, demand side management and distributed clean generation. It looks like this idea is starting to gain traction, with the environmental community, state leaders, and even state government.
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