Expanding the Pacific Northwest/Southwest Intertie--Benefits and Impediments

摘要

In 1980, GAO recommended that the intertie be expanded because California could save about 4 million barrels of oil per year while the Northwest could earn additional revenues from the sale of surplus energy. Since GAO's earlier report, little expansion has occurred although the amount of surplus energy available from the Northwest to California has greatly increased. Because of the benefits to be derived, GAO makes specific recommendations aimed at facilitating expansion of the intertie.