Lower prices, stronger grid: Advocate for the BIG WIRES Act

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Citizens' Climate Lobby

204

Supporters

300

Next goal

This bill will increase grid reliability, lower energy costs, and build capacity for new clean energy projects that are waiting to come online.

From power failures in Texas to multi-year backlogs of renewable energy projects, our grid is failing us. To level up our grid, the Building Integrated Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply Act (BIG WIRES Act - H.R.5551/ S.2827) has been introduced in the Senate and the House.

As the bill makes its way through committee review, amendments, debates, and votes, it's important that we show our enthusiastic support as constituents and put pressure on our members of Congress to make it a top priority as we near the end of the year.

We deserve a reliable power grid and affordable clean energy, and this bill would help make that a reality. Take action now by emailing your members of Congress asking them to co-sponsor.

Ask your Representative and Senators to co-sponsor the BIG WIRES Act.

The bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a rule requiring every region in the U.S. to be able to transfer 30% of its energy to another region by strengthening our shared grid. This would:

• Make America’s energy grid more resilient and reliable
• Encourage states to build the required infrastructure to move to clean energy
• Potentially pass as part of a funding package this year!

Co-sponsoring this bill means your Congress member would publicly support and endorse this specific piece of legislation, demonstrating their commitment to its goals and objectives.

To get it passed during this Congress, we need as many co-sponsors as possible to show growing support for radically accelerating transmission capacity expansion. Will you join this campaign to encourage your members of Congress to support this bill?

Why do we need this bill?

Grid reliability and future renewables expansion depends on our transmission infrastructure (BIG WIRES!)

In 2022, Winter Storm Elliot left hundreds of thousands of Americans in the dark as local power generation suffered failures from extreme conditions and couldn't keep up with demand. Even as nearby regions were producing an excess of energy, there wasn't adequate infrastructure in place to import that excess into the Southeast.

Outside of extreme events, some regions produce excess solar and wind that should be sold to other regions with high demand, also helping to decarbonize the energy mix for areas with high fossil fuel usage.

A key solution? Inter-regional transmission—wires that import power over long distances in times of need. These lines prevent disruptions, saving you money and keeping the lights on in times of need.

Inter-regional transmission is severely lacking.

Since 2014, North America has built just 7 gigawatts of large-scale inter-regional transmission capacity compared to 44 gigawatts in Europe and 260 gigawatts in China during the same time period.

Currently, many regions are sharing less than 10% of their peak power with other regions. To unlock the full emissions reduction potential of the Inflation Reduction Act and create a fully connected grid, the pace of transmission expansion must more than double the rate over the last decade.

There is no transition without transmission, and the BIG WIRES Act tackles this head-on.

The benefits of this bill are huge. With more robust inter-regional transmission, we can:

• Increase grid reliability, reducing blackout risks
• Lower energy costs through shared clean energy
• Allow areas with plentiful clean energy to export it
• Encourage building new capacity to support clean energy projects on the grid

It’s also technology-neutral and flexible, and likely to garner support across party lines. Regions can choose how they achieve the 30% peak power transfer target, using methods that suit their needs, including building new transmission, implementing grid-enhancing technologies, increasing energy efficiency, and more.

What is the timeline for this bill?

1. Now: Get the bill passed by Congress—we need your help!
2. Mid-2025: FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) issues rule within 18 months
3. Mid-2027: Regions submit plans to increase inter-regional transmission within 2 years
4. Plans must set timelines for the upgrades to be completed by end of 2035
5. Regions submit updated plans every 5 years

Looking ahead: We can uncap renewables expansion by increasing transmission capacity.

If we don’t start building clean energy infrastructure faster, we will only achieve about 20% of the potential carbon pollution reduction from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Currently, more than 2000 gigawatts of new energy projects are awaiting approval to connect to the grid—that’s more than the current energy generation capacity in the entire country. And 95% of those proposed projects are for zero-carbon resources like solar, wind, and battery storage.

So why aren’t these projects online yet? It can take several years to get the necessary approvals to connect to the grid, and the core of the issue for the long wait is lack of transmission capacity within that region. A side effect of this bill is that if regions choose to build new transmission lines to meet the 30% transfer requirements, we can use those to get these projects online and exporting energy to regions with high demand.

Join the campaign, spread the word, and make your voice heard—we can’t have a transition without transmission!