A no-regrets solution to NC’s energy needs

North Carolina has a lot riding on its electric grid. More than $18 billion worth of new investments has delivered nearly 10,000 new jobs in recent years, with more investment expected in the years to come. And powering all that growth will require vast amounts of electricity.

The best way to deliver this energy is through proven, reliable and affordable clean energy resources. In fact, the promise of clean power growth is a big part of why North Carolina has drawn all this investment from clean energy manufacturers — a point Gov. Roy Cooper has often emphasized as companies from across the globe have made commitments to invest in North Carolina’s clean energy economy.

But there is still a big impediment to adding more low-cost, renewable energy to North Carolina’s electric mix. The grid is just too congested to make room for new power. While the state has ample land and sun for solar power to provide cheap, clean, homegrown energy, its aging infrastructure lacks the capacity to get that power onto the grid and across the state.

Federal guidance on planning for new transmission lines was recently released and could help address this challenge, but new transmission lines are costly, and site prep, permit acquisition and funding can take a decade or more.

Thankfully, there are relatively simple solutions that can bring additional capacity to the grid in the short term. One option is to replace old transmission lines with advanced conductors that can move more power — a practice known as reconductoring. There are also low-cost technologies that optimize and direct electricity flow to boost grid capacity and resilience. These grid-enhancing technologies, as they’re known, are especially effective when paired with reconductoring efforts, but they can also be implemented on their own.

These are modern, proven solutions that can double the capacity of transmission lines at half the cost of building a new one, and in a fraction of the time. While they don’t eliminate the need to build new transmission lines in the long term, they by far represent the quickest and most efficient route to breaking down roadblocks and getting new, clean energy into the mix to power the state’s new manufacturing projects.

Grid-enhancing technologies also bring new funding opportunities for North Carolina-based companies. For example, Durham-based Smart Wires has received $60 million through U.S. Department of Energy grants to deploy its advanced power flow control technology.

Ratepayers also benefit from these technologies because they make the grid more reliable, ensuring households and businesses get the power they need. This is especially important as electricity demand spikes in North Carolina and across the U.S. It’s a truly no-regrets upgrade for the grid that will support the state’s economic growth and get more clean energy online while longer-term solutions are planned and implemented.

Utilities should be encouraged to embrace short-term, cost-effective enhancements to the grid in their planning processes. This work should take priority over building brand-new, expensive fossil fuel infrastructure whose volatile prices drive up electric bills and whose construction would ultimately be recouped from ratepayers.

Unfortunately, the state’s primary utility, Duke Energy, recently put forward a proposal to meet the growing electricity demand that seems to have these priorities misplaced. Instead of fully embracing clean energy and grid enhancements, its plan involves building new gas plants and keeping coal facilities open longer than originally planned, risking higher bills for ratepayers and pollution for North Carolina communities. It’s a shortsighted approach that doesn’t take full advantage of current power infrastructure to better serve the state’s ratepayers.

As policymakers at the North Carolina Utilities Commission prepare to decide on Duke’s proposed plans by the end of the year, the business community is strongly recommending the plan be reworked to leverage reconductoring and other grid-enhancing opportunities.

There is too much at stake — and nothing to lose — by leveraging the best available technologies that can cleanly, affordably and effectively power North Carolina’s growing manufacturing base and the rest of its economy.

Mel Mackin is director of state policy at Ceres, a nonprofit that works with companies and investors on clean energy solutions.

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