The Biden administration is investing $1.5 billion in four major electric power projects, including a new connection linking Texas’s isolated grid to the Southeastern U.S., according to an
announcement made on Thursday.
These projects aim to enhance grid reliability and expand energy access, the Department of Energy stated in a press release. Collectively, they are expected to add 7,100 megawatts of new electric power capacity across Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas—enough to power over 710 million LED light bulbs.
One of the key initiatives will, for the first time, connect Texas's standalone power grid to the Southeastern U.S. power markets. This issue gained significant attention after Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which caused widespread blackouts and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people. Research has indicated that integrating Texas into the broader national grid could have mitigated some of those outages.
The Biden administration has highlighted the importance of power line expansion as part of its broader climate strategy, emphasizing that many renewable energy projects face challenges in connecting to the grid.
“When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, they envisioned tackling the climate crisis while powering the economy with clean electricity. To achieve this, we need to more than double our current transmission capacity,” White House adviser John Podesta said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The funding for these projects comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and follows three previously announced initiatives funded under the same transmission program.
One of the new projects involves the construction of a power substation in Haynesville, Maine, along with a 111-mile transmission line connecting it to the larger New England power grid.
Another project will link wind and solar power production to demand centers in eastern Oklahoma.
The fourth project will span New Mexico, providing power for local semiconductor and battery manufacturing industries, as well as data centers. Photo by Hari Seldon, Wikimedia commons.
