"After a dozen years, multiple energy crises, regulatory delays and political turnover, construction of a novel 400-mile power line connecting Texas to the Southeast is finally within sight.
The progress is welcome news for clean energy advocates who believe Southern Cross Transmission and similar long-haul projects are critical to a future in which Texas and the U.S. grid move immense amounts of wind and solar energy to decarbonize the nation’s electric infrastructure.
But the $2 billion project, proposed by Pattern Energy Group LP, likely won’t be ready until 2026 at the earliest, if construction starts in 2023.
That means Southern Cross may take about 17 years from conception to completion, a symbol of the long delays that challenge high-voltage power line projects and cast doubts on a carbon-cutting grid transformation sought by President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress. Even Texas, where state regulators have oversight of transmission line construction, didn’t ensure that Southern Cross could be built quickly. Then blackouts devastated the state in February."
Edward Klump and Peter Behr report for E&E News October 28, 2021.
SEE ALSO:
"Old Power Gear Is Slowing Use of Clean Energy and Electric Cars" (New York Times)
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