Author: Admin

The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a rule meant to speed up federal permits for major transmission lines, part of a broader push to expand America’s electric grids. Building new lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition.

The Energy Department is trying to use the limited tools at its disposal to pour roughly $20 billion into grid upgrades and to streamline approvals for new lines. But experts say a rapid, large-scale grid expansion may ultimately depend on Congress.

Editor’s Note:  This is a poster child for what’s broken about federal permitting.  This project was planned in the 2000s and approved after lengthy environmental and other review in 2015.  The suit was filed federally in January and dismissed in late April, subject to appeal … and a companion case in Arizona state courts.  If not dismissed there, further delays will add expense.  (A $10 billion dollar project delayed for a year in a 5% interest rate world costs $500 million annually.)

A lawsuit that has paused the completion of a power line in the Upper Midwest is part of a long-running conflict that has exposed differences within the environmental and clean energy advocacy communities.

Developers of the $649 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line have built about 100 of the project’s 102 miles, but they stopped work following a March 22 injunction by a U.S. district court judge in Wisconsin.