No Grid, No Gain: Untangling the Transmission Tie-up

California, USA --Great strides have been made in enacting state renewable energy standards (RES) in the United States, which significantly affect the urgency of developing new renewable energy facilities. Also called Renewable Portfolio Standards and Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards, over 30 states have adopted RES mandates. These initiatives are paving a path toward a more economically and environmentally sustainable and secure energy future for America.Success to date notwithstanding, one primary hurdle facing renewable developers stems from limitations to the existing transmission grid. Simply put, efforts to integrate renewable generation into the U.S. energy mix have frequently been stymied by the lack of available transmission facilities. For example, the Midwest has been colloquially called the "Saudi Arabia of wind" because of tremendous wind resources in the Great Plains. However, this most windswept region of the nation tends to be overwhelmingly rural and lacks the transmission facilities that would allow wind generated electrons to be transmitted to major urban markets such as Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.