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New Mexico, along with the other Western states, is entering a new era of electricity transmission expansion, largely driven by the need to incorporate increasing amounts of renewable resources into the nation’s energy mix to ensure a degree of protection from higher conventional fuel and environmental costs.
The world appetite for energy is growing at a phenomenal rate. In the US, our need for electricity will increase 30% by the year 2030. These demands must be met while simultaneously addressing the greatest environmental challenge facing our world today – global climate change. These two factors are driving an explosion in the demand for green and sustainable sources of electricity. Though tremendous advances are being made in renewable solar and wind technologies, we still have an unaddressed problem in New Mexico and the nation.
The challenge facing New Mexico
New Mexico, along with other Western states, faces a challenge. While there exists an abundant amount of sun and wind, there is a lack of transmission infrastructure to bring the power derived from these renewable resources, usually located in remote areas of the state, to the large cities known as load centers.
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Improving transmission infrastructure will enable access to more economical and less polluting resources, thereby minimizing environmental impacts on both a local and regional basis. Therefore, transmission must be an integral component in the development and delivery of new renewable energy resources. While the amount of new transmission required needs to take into account the success of conservation and improvements in energy efficiency, the fact remains that substantial new transmission will have to be installed – not only to deliver new power supplies to customers, but to facilitate the emerging shift from fossil-based to renewable-based resources. This situation has been exacerbated by a fifteen-year hiatus in major new multi-state transmission construction, which has effectively eliminated any major excess capacity in the existing transmission grid that might otherwise be used to serve these new requirements. Requirements for new transmission are also increased by state renewable portfolio standards, which mandate that a certain percentage of electrical generation or use be from renewable sources. It is likely that some areas will “export” power from their renewable-energy-rich areas to meet these requirements, with additional transmission line capacities being needed to accomplish this transport.
The planning and development of new transmission lines is a very time-consuming process which can range from five to ten years from the time of project inception to the time of commercial operation.
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