A Well Planned Regional Grid is Essential for a Clean Energy Future

Renewable Energy World: The western grid that stretches from Denver to San Francisco and from Vancouver to Tijuana is a vast single interconnected electrical system. It is currently operated jointly by 38 different agencies, including the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). How that grid is used is rapidly evolving as solar and wind energy grow and coal generation is phased out and use of natural gas is reduced. Solar and wind generation are now the lowest cost new sources of power across the West. The way the western transmission system is planned and used needs to catch up with that fact.

California’s has shown that smart transmission planning can open up areas where renewable resources are abundant and make clean energy available to consumers across the state. A surge in investment in new transmission projects from 2005 through 2016, put California in its current enviable position of leadership in renewable energy development.

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