The West can’t power its future without more transmission

Nevada and Utah, with reputations for being excellent places to do business, are seeing an influx of manufacturing facilities, technology companies and people who want to move here. With that economic opportunity comes a need for more electricity. 

As governors of Western states, we see this moment as a defining test of whether the region will lead the next generation of industry or fall behind. Meeting that moment will require building the modern energy system our states need to compete and thrive.

However, our society is asking more of an electric grid that was not built for our modern energy needs. Transmission, the poles and wires that move electricity from where it is produced to our cities and towns, is critical to reliable, affordable power for families and businesses, and the economic growth that comes with it.

For years, incremental upgrades and targeted fixes have helped keep the lights on, but our needs are different today. Over the next decade, advanced manufacturing, electrification and frontier technologies are expected to drive a 30 percent increase in energy demand, a challenge that cannot be met by states acting alone.

Nevada and Utah sit along critical regional transmission pathways, serving as energy highways across the West that move electricity between resources and the communities that depend on them. When energy projects in our states are delayed, the impacts ripple across the West, ultimately affecting reliability, increasing grid congestion and raising costs for families and businesses. Estimates suggest that we need at least 12,600 miles of........

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