Oct. 30 (UPI) — The Biden administration is undertaking an effort to modernize the country’s aging electric grid with an investment of more than $30 billion.
This commitment, which pulls funds from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, will go toward addressing pressing grid challenges while promoting clean energy and economic growth.
The Department of Energy also announced Monday that part of the commitment, approximately $1.3 billion, will be used for three new transmission lines in Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont.
One of the transmission lines is designed to transfer renewable energy from New Mexico to Arizona. The second line will link Vermont and New Hampshire to Canada and the third will connect a transmission system in Utah and Nevada.
The investments are projected to contribute 3.5 gigawatts of extra electric capacity to the grid and create more than 13,000 jobs.
The White House said the existing grid, serving 145 million households and businesses, is susceptible to age-related issues. Additionally, over the past year, the United States endured 18 natural disasters resulting in power outages, which, in turn, incurred an estimated annual cost of $150 billion for businesses.
This new investment is set to usher in an improved grid that will lower electricity expenses for both households and businesses while working to prevent power outages during severe weather events.
“The projects will improve reliability, they’ll strengthen critical infrastructure to keep the power on during extreme weather and the projects will deliver more, affordable clean power across the country,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told The Hill on Friday.
Earlier this month, The International Energy Agency issued a warning, stating that global power grid networks must double their current length to reach 100,000 miles by 2040.
The IEA emphasized that immediate action, including adding 50,000 miles of new grids, is crucial to address the surge in demand for electricity production as the world transitions away from fossil fuels, all while combating climate change.
