Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the Department of Energy will not move forward with three proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors that were selected under the Biden administration, the agency said Aug. 12.
The reversal marks a significant shift in federal grid expansion strategy, removing a tool the prior administration sought to use to accelerate long-distance transmission buildout across priority regions. The DOE did not announce a replacement policy in the same release.
National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors give the federal government backstop authority to site transmission lines over state objections under certain conditions. The designation was intended to break through permitting and jurisdictional barriers that have slowed transmission construction for decades.
The cancellation affects regions where grid congestion has constrained electricity delivery and limited the integration of new power generation. Long-distance transmission lines are widely considered essential to both reliability and the ability to move power from where it is generated to where it is needed.
For electricity consumers, transmission bottlenecks contribute to higher prices and increased risk of outages during periods of peak demand. Industry groups and grid operators have identified transmission as the single largest infrastructure gap in the U.S. power system.
The corridors were designated under authority granted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and expanded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The federal designation process was intended to supplement, not replace, state-level transmission siting.
Congress has debated transmission policy extensively in recent sessions, with bipartisan interest in accelerating buildout but disagreement over the appropriate federal role in siting decisions.