nationalizing the grid

摘要

The US is blessed with abundant renewable energy, from wind in west Texas to sunlight in the western deserts. But this power cannot be put to work unless it can be economically transmitted to load centers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved a project designed to break this longstanding transmission bottleneck and create a power-marketing hub that will provide developers of renewable generation with expanded regional and national markets in which to sell their power. This project, called the Tres Amigas SuperStation, will be located in Clovis, NM, close to large amounts of established and potential renewable generation, and in its first phase, slated to begin construction in 2012, will support the 5,000 megawatts of power transfer capacity. SuperStation will make it practical, and economical, to "firm up" intermittent and variable renewable energy by taking advantage of geographical diversity and energy storage, such as the onsite batteries at Tres Amigas or systems such as compressed air energy storage.