Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

If all the high-voltage transmission currently under construction and in advanced stages of permitting is built by 2030 in the Western United States—enabling the construction of new renewable energy projects—carbon dioxide emissions in the Western United States would drop by 73% compared to 2005.

Energy generation costs would also decrease 32% by 2030, compared to a reference case where most of these projects are not built.

These are the results of a new report by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that looks at how new transmission and renewable energy projects in the Western United States could bring economic benefits and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The report, called the Western Interconnection Baseline Study, published September 13, 2024. The report is part of the National Transmission Planning Study.

"The Western Interconnection Baseline Study uses the grid industry's most reliable data to look at how future transmission and renewable energy projects would lower carbon emissions and save money, all while keeping the western grid stable and reliable," said Konstantinos Oikonomou, a staff power systems research engineer at PNNL and lead author of the study.

Across the United States, more than 700,000 miles of transmission lines transport energy from generators like fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power plants, wind and solar farms, energy storage systems and hydropower plants. This backbone of the electricity grid allows energy to then be distributed to cities, neighborhoods and eventually to individual consumers.

• Read More