Biden’s $2 T infrastructure plan would overhaul grid
USA, Washington D.C.: President Biden will unveil a $2 T, eight-year plan that features efforts to speed up a transition to clean energy.
Image source: E&E News
USA, Washington D.C.: President Biden will unveil a $2 T, eight-year plan that features efforts to speed up a transition to clean energy.
The plan includes $100 B to upgrade the USA’s electric grid and to give the Energy Department more clout in disputes over siting power lines.
Citing the recent Texas power outages, White House officials said yesterday that the electric grid “needs urgent modernization” and that Biden’s plans would not only lead to a more resilient grid, lower energy bills and new jobs, but also put the USA “on the path to achieving 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.”
The package includes a targeted investment tax credit to incentivize the build-out of at least 20 GW of high-voltage power lines needed to unlock more renewable energy generation, according to a summary shared with reporters yesterday. It would also establish a new Grid Deployment Authority at DOE that would allow the agency to better leverage existing rights of way along roads and railways and would support “creative financing tools” to encourage additional high-priority transmission lines.
The entire infrastructure plan faces a tough road in Congress, where Republicans have balked at spending additional money. But a White House official told reporters on a call last night that the plan will create “millions and millions” of jobs and position the USA to out-compete China and tackle the “escalating economic cost” of climate change.
“We think there is a compelling economic rationale for moving forward,” the official said of Republican pushback.
Biden is also pledging to establish an Energy Efficiency and Clean Electricity Standard, which would require utilities and grid operators to improve energy efficiency and promote carbon-pollution-free energy supplied by existing sources like nuclear and hydropower.
Source: E&E News