EEI - Transmission Projects Carrying Renewable Resources Highlighted in Report From Edison Electric Institute

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
	Ed Legge , 202-657-2592

Transmission Projects Carrying Renewable Resources Highlighted in Report From Edison Electric Institute

Washington (Monday, March 02, 2009) -

A range of new electric transmission projects is helping to enable increased integration of renewable generating resources into the nation’s power grid, according to a new Edison Electric Institute report.

The report, entitled “Transmission Projects Supporting Renewable Resources,” identifies 31 transmission projects recently completed, currently underway or planned for completion by 2015 that will transmit solar, wind, geothermal or biomass-generated electricity as part of their overall electric load. Together the projects represent an estimated $21 billion in investment by the utilities, whose renewable resource portfolios are growing and will continue to grow as a result.

“This report, though not comprehensive, indicates that our industry is making progress in connecting renewable-generated electricity to the grid and is capable of making the necessary investments as demand for renewable resources increases,” said EEI President Thomas R. Kuhn. “But, like all transmission projects, approval and siting challenges remain for the projects being planned, and those challenges become even more pressing as we seek to bring more renewables online.”

The report provides a snapshot of the variety of new transmission projects that either support or will support integration of renewable resources. The projects examined in the report are for 100-kilovolt lines or above, cost $20 million or more, have begun service already or will be in service between now and the end of 2015.

Kuhn pointed out that the projects included in the report are part of an overall trend in increased transmission infrastructure investment during the past several years. Between 2001 and 2007, EEI’s member companies invested almost $37 billion (in 2006 dollars) in transmission infrastructure projects to help meet load growth and reliability needs for the nation’s grid.

The projects in the report touch every U.S. region, including the Midwest, Texas and the Far West, regions where a wealth of wind power resources is now being harvested and continues to offer great opportunity for new renewable electric generation.

A complete copy of the report is available at:
http://www.eei.org/ourissues/ElectricityTransmission/Pages/TransmissionProjectsSupportingRenewableResources.aspx

# # #
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.