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Transmission and Reliability
Every day, millions of Americans rely on electricity to heat and cool their homes, run their businesses, charge their vehicles, and more – without ever having to think about the vast energy grid that makes it all possible. But when a heat wave strikes and everyone cranks up the air conditioning, sometimes there’s not enough energy supply to meet demand… and the power goes out. With extreme temperatures becoming increasingly common, it’s clear we need a more reliable, more resilient 21st-century energy grid.
The good news? The U.S. already produces enough homegrown energy to prevent blackouts — we just need more transmission lines to carry that energy from where it’s generated to where it’s used.
More transmission means fewer blackouts
In 2023, experts warned that two-thirds of North America could experience an energy shortfall during summer heat waves — a combination that poses serious threats to public health. Building more transmission lines across broad geographic footprints could strengthen our grid. By allowing grid operators to access energy from more sources, robust transmission infrastructure can ensure power is restored to homes and businesses more quickly in the event of an outage — or even prevent blackouts in the first place.
An energy system we can rely on
With more transmission, the United States can plug into our abundant wind, solar, and hydroelectric resources to create the most reliable grid in history. Unfortunately, fossil-fuel power plants regularly fail us during extreme temperature events — often at the exact moment people need electricity most — and are prone to unpredictable forced outages. The average coal plant is unavailable to supply power 15% of the time. With more transmission capacity, we can bring on tons of new renewable energy resources and keep the lights on.
A stronger grid for a stronger economy
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that power outages cost American businesses $150 billion each year. Building new transmission lines could not only protect businesses from losses associated with power outages in the long run, but also supercharge the economy by creating 650,000 new good-paying jobs, especially in rural areas. That’s the power of a 21st century grid.