HVDC and the US Grid

Wind in Oklahoma and solar in Arizona could power homes in the East, if the wires existed to move it there. The three US interconnections still trade power through the same tiny DC ties from the last lesson. The fix is obvious: build HVDC lines connecting them and moving cheap renewable power thousands of miles. The obstacle is not engineering. It is permitting across dozens of state and county jurisdictions.

Several major HVDC projects are in development. The Grain Belt Express would carry 5 GW of Kansas wind to Indiana and points east (1,300 km). SunZia delivers 3 GW of New Mexico wind to Arizona (880 km). The proposed SOO Green line would run 560 km from Iowa wind to PJM. Each has spent a decade or more in permitting.

The permitting gauntlet. Grain Belt Express was proposed in 2010. As of 2024, it has secured permits in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana through individual state proceedings. Each state required separate applications, hearings, and negotiations with landowners. Total time from proposal to expected construction start: 15+ years for a single line.

Why can't the federal government streamline HVDC permitting?

Because transmission siting is mostly a state and local authority. Unlike highways or pipelines, the federal government has no general authority to permit interstate electric transmission lines. FERC received limited "backstop" siting authority under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, expanded slightly by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but has rarely used it. Each state through which a line passes has effective veto power, and states that export cheap power have less incentive to approve lines than states that import it.

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