As Colorado and the West wrestle with how to increase our reliance on renewable energy, one piece of the clean energy puzzle is often overlooked: the electricity infrastructure that moves renewable-generated electrons to consumers.
Most renewable resources are remotely located. For example, the wind blows best in locations far from population centers, just as the sun shines brightest and longest in the arid desert. Thus, we need to build power lines to allow consumers to tap into those clean energy resources.
That’s why the recently announced plans by four Western governors to build an electric transmission line from Wyoming to California is such exciting news for renewable energy advocates.
As proposed by Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, this transmission line will enable the development of more than 6,000 megawatts of new renewable energy projects in the Intermountain West. That is nearly twice the total capacity of all wind-power systems in place across America at the end of 2003.
Called the “Frontier Line,” this project is the single largest renewable-enabling infrastructure project ever proposed in the West.
Put into perspective, 6,000 megawatts of new renewable capacity: Is more than 25 times the current installed wind-energy capacity of Colorado;
Is more than 15 times the current installed solar-energy capacity of the entire nation; Is more than 2.5 times the current installed geothermal-energy capacity of the entire nation; Is nearly twice the installed wind-energy capacity of all Western states combined; and would increase installed wind-energy capacity nationally by 100 percent.
Clearly, the Frontier Line will be a boon for renewable-energy developers and for consumers who want more of their power to come from renewable resources.
Equally important, it will spark investment in a new generation of high-tech, super-clean, coal-fired power plants that will help keep our environment clean, make our economy stronger and give a break to low-income families struggling to pay their monthly utility bills.
Bringing renewables and clean fossil fuels into greater partnership is a goal shared by all but the most radical environmentalists. Here is why: Most renewable power plants provide low-cost, clean power but only on an intermittent basis – they work when the wind blows or the sun shines. Most renewables, therefore, must be built with a “baseload” backup power source in place that can provide power to fill in the generation gaps left by renewable intermittency. That is where next-generation fossil-fuel plants come in, both those fired by natural gas and clean coal.
This power line will prove a boon to consumers who have been battered by high energy prices. Much of this price pain has been caused by a restriction of supply, particularly in natural gas. The Frontier Line will help deliver electricity generated by a wide variety of sources: wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, natural gas and clean coal. Diversifying our energy base will help insulate consumers from commodity price swings in any one resource.
In fact, according to a study commissioned by Freudenthal and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, the annual consumer and generator benefits for the Rocky Mountain region of the Frontier Line have been estimated to range between $926 million and $1.7 billion. That means that the cost of building the Frontier Line – $3.3 billion – will be recouped through consumer savings in only a few years.
Constructing the Frontier Line also will inject billions of dollars into the West’s economy, creating and helping to support hundreds of thousands of jobs. The economic stimulus it will provide through lower energy prices will boost economic growth and opportunity in virtually every sector of the West.
As America has relied increasingly on electricity generation from natural- gas-fired power plants, gas supplies have become constrained. Not only has this raised costs, but it also forces us to seek to import more natural gas from foreign nations. The Frontier Line will help America develop and rely on more of its own domestic resources, both renewable and conventional. In short, the Frontier Line means more American energy for America.
Jim Sims is executive director of the Western Business Roundtable, a Golden-based group that represents Western business interests. He was an adviser to President Bush’s National Energy Policy Task Force.
