If power lines are the veins of the electrical system, big transmission lines that cross state and national borders are the major arteries ― and they’re notoriously hard to get approved.
In 2021, voters in Maine sided with fossil fuel companies on a referendum to block construction of a transmission line connecting Québec’s hydroelectric system to New England’s gas-burning grid. The next year, New York’s public utility regulator faced fierce opposition to a pair of transmission lines connecting New York City to solar and wind farms upstate and to Quebec’s zero-carbon grid.
Now, building a giant, locally-contested transmission line is something a Democrat is trying to run on.
In a 30-second TV spot released this week, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) calls the SunZia project — a controversial wind and transmission project, stretching 550 miles from New Mexico to regions in California to Arizona, that struggled for 20 years to get final approvals — “a game changer” that he’s proud to have gotten done.