The solution to a faster transformation to clean energy? More power lines.

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we must generate and supply enough clean energy to power All —from cars and trucks to buildings and factories. But the main obstacle to transitioning to a clean energy future is surprisingly basic: We don’t have enough transmission lines to efficiently transport the power generated in clean energy hotspots to where we need it.

The federal government just took radical action to modernize and expand the grid to keep up with proposed clean energy projects. Here’s what you need to know about the transmission system, the power grid and what needs to change to achieve 100% clean energy.

Here’s how the grid works

Also known as the “electric grid,” the transmission system is the network of wires that moves electricity from one place to another. There are 12 different transmission planning regions in the United States that serve most of the U.S. power grid and are overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

More than 70% of the nation’s electricity is produced by investor-owned utilities, which also own most of the nation’s high-voltage transmission lines (even though you paid for those lines with your electric bill). They often own or are affiliated with existing fossil fuel plants and have no incentive to expand transmission and erode their monopoly on power generation.

The grid as it exists today was designed to generate electricity in urban centers by burning fossil fuels. The transition to 100% clean energy requires some improvements and a lot of new high-voltage transmission lines. The old ways of planning and paying for high-voltage transmission lines will not be enough.

How more power lines help

The places with the greatest clean energy potential are not always where it is needed most. For example, many solar projects are being built in remote deserts, and the plains have huge wind energy potential. We need to get that energy to the places where people live and work.

We need to build more transmission lines to move clean energy across the country in addition to increasing local, distributed clean energy resources, such as rooftop and community solar and battery storage. Distributed clean energy means cheaper electricity and a more reliable grid, even in extreme weather conditions exacerbated by climate change.

To transition to a clean energy economy, we need to at least double current transmission capacity by the end of this decade. We must do this in partnership with communities that will be impacted by new infrastructure – especially those that already face unfair environmental burdens – and without compromising fundamental environmental principles.

How the United States is making progress

This is happening now: Construction of new long-distance transmission lines has been on hold in most regions for more than a decade, but recent reforms should trigger the planning and construction of more high-voltage transmission lines to keep up with proposed clean energy projects.

Earthjustice’s Role: Earthjustice and our allies successfully pushed FERC to strengthen interconnection reforms that will speed up the approval process for new energy projects, and FERC recently issued much-needed transmission planning reforms. Since Earthjustice and our partners issued a 2023 policy brief outlining how federal agencies and Congress can address the transmission bottleneck and quickly build the infrastructure we need for an equitable, clean energy future for all, many of the proposed reforms we supported have been enacted.

What the reforms do: The way the U.S. plans and pays for transmission projects has been a significant obstacle to achieving 100 percent clean energy. Regions have not planned and built high-voltage interstate transmission lines because they have had difficulty identifying the transmission needs for future clean energy demand and development and coordinating differences on issues such as planning criteria and who will pay. Recent FERC reforms address these obstacles to building a modern grid across the U.S.

Next steps: FERC must then require interregional transmission planning, and we will continue to press FERC to focus on equity and environmental justice in transmission planning. Together, these federal reforms should modernize and expand our grid in ways necessary to support the transition to a 100% clean economy.