REAP Calls the U.S. National Transmission Study Flawed

News provided by

Renewable Energy Accountability Project

Jul 08, 2010, 09:00 ET

2009 Study Fails To Answer Congress' Questions on Electrical Transmission Grid Upgrades

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On July 7, 2010, Jim Gonzalez, Chair of the Renewable Energy Accountability Project (REAP), and S. David Freeman, Principal of REAP sent a letter to Congressman George Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, stating that the 2009 National Congestion Transmission Study "fails to address the primary Congressional directive, namely 'recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity.'"

In their letter, Messrs. Gonzalez and Freeman stated that "America needs a renewable energy policy that treats electrical transmission upgrades as the cornerstone of a massive infrastructure investment that is absolutely necessary to create the high wage, non-outsourceable green energy jobs that can transform our country into the world leader in clean energy."

Unfortunately, the 2009 National Congestion Transmission Study (released on April 30, 2010 after a long delay) fails to provide a roadmap building these necessary transmission upgrades.

In REAP's response to the Study, S. David Freeman, former Chairman of the Board of Tennessee Valley Authority and author of "Winning Our Energy Independence," analyzed the Study's flaws and recommended that:

The siting process for transmission facilities be consolidated at the federal level to preempt all state and local permitting;
Environmental protection be consolidated at the federal level to preempt all state and local permitting;
The authority for environmental protection should be placed in the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with advice from all relevant interests;
And that a time limit of one year be enacted so that any project will be automatically approved if no decision is made in one year.

In his analysis submitted to the Department of Energy, Mr. Freeman "Strongly urged that the study be revised to be responsive to the public interest in action to hasten the transition to renewables as President Obama stated was urgent in his Oval Office address to the nation on June 15, 2010."

* Read the REAP letter to Congressman Miller and REAP's response to the 2009 National Congestion Transmission Study by clicking here: http://www.reapinfo.org/reap3/caupdate/reap7710

** The Renewable Energy Accountability Project is a leading national grass-roots environmental organization committed to achieving clean energy independence. http://www.reapinfo.org

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.

Jim Gonzalez

https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=96086

S. David Freeman

https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=96087

SOURCE Renewable Energy Accountability Project