‘Latest battleground’: How politics seized the electric grid

Bridging the divide

Some transmission advocates are trying to make transmission less partisan. One example is Devin Hartman, director of energy and environmental policy at R Street, a conservative-leaning, pro-free-markets think tank.

A bill this year to encourage the development of interregional transmission floundered amid Republican opposition. Hartman is hoping to refocus the conversation on Capitol Hill and at FERC on how the grid’s issues make it harder to build new energy projects — and that’s a drag on the broader U.S. economy and a threat to electricity reliability.

“The marketing of transmission reform has mostly come from a pro-renewables or green messenger community. That’s just not speaking the language of Republicans,” Hartman said…

“When Republicans were last engaged on the issue, like with George W. Bush, you had a lot of traction made,” said Hartman of R Street. “The renewables branding of transmission reform does taint it in some Republicans’ minds.”