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1 1 (December 9, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveeyt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional .Research Service ~ ~~ ~~informing the legi Iative debate since 1914 ___________________ IIJA: Efforts to Address Electric Transmission for Reliability, Resilience, and Renewables December 9, 2021 With the February 2021 electricity blackouts in Texas, the past summer blackouts in the Pacific Northwest, and the recurring power outages in California, attention focused on how addressing transmission issues could help address reliability and other arising issues. With the retirement of many older coal and natural gas facilities, many states and regions are becoming more reliant on imported power from their neighbors, even as region-wide weather and other challenges limit the surplus power availability. Another common issue is transmission congestion, which can occur when insufficient paths for the economic flow of power exist, and can result in an increased cost of electricity. Transmission congestion adversely affects several U.S. regions, as a lack of capacity to efficiently transmit electricity leads to the curtailment of power generation, and can result in increased electricity prices. In some cases, renewable electricity from wind and solar facilities cannot get to customers as power lines do not have enough transmission capacity. Transmission congestion has been an acute issue for the pipeline of renewable projects in the Midwest. Between 2016 and 2020, an estimated 245 advanced stage renewable energy projects were reported withdrawn due to congestion and related grid upgrade costs, representing approximately 40% of projects in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's queue. Investment in new transmission facilities remains an area of government interest. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which oversees the reliability of the U.S. bulk power system, initiated a proposed rulemaking process that considers the potential need to improve how transmission lines are planned and paid for, as well as the process by which new generators-including solar and wind farms- connect to the grid. Increased transmission ties could also potentially enhance national electric grid reliability and resilience by increasing the ability of power to flow across U.S. regions to where power is needed. Amore efficient transmission system could potentially allow more states to meet goals for renewable energy generation. Some of the higher quality renewable sources for electricity are on the Outer Continental Shelf, where high quality wind and tidal resources exist. However, these coastal resources will likely need a large increase in transmission capacity onshore, as well as high-voltage direct-current transmission systems to bring that power onshore to networks. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11821 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Committeesof Congress

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