Energy Department Cancels 3 Biden-Era Transmission Corridors as Trump Backs Grid Expansion Elsewhere
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Aug 13
Energy Department Cancels 3 Biden-Era Transmission Corridors as Trump Backs Grid Expansion Elsewhere
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Aug 13
Summary
Three multistate transmission corridors designated under Biden were scrapped Wednesday, halting a federal effort to speed long-distance power lines across regions including the Great Plains, Southwest and Lake Erie.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the designations served a “Green New Scam agenda,” arguing they raised costs, hurt reliability and ignored local communities along the proposed routes.
The canceled corridors covered Pennsylvania; New Mexico, Colorado and western Oklahoma; and parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and five tribal reservations, drawing praise from local critics including Rep. Lauren Boebert.
The move does not signal a broader retreat from transmission: DOE last month closed a $3.3 billion loan for 2,800 miles of Texas lines, and a July draft report said Trump’s energy agenda depends on a stronger grid.
Grid analysts said the reversal instead highlights how politically fraught interstate transmission remains and may strengthen calls for congressional permitting reform to reduce administrations’ sway over major projects.