Fossil Company Fighting Transmission Gamechanger

February 17th, 2010 by Susan Kraemer

FERC is close to approving the Tres Amigas high-voltage interconnection hub project in Clovis, New Mexico, designed to be the first step in a renewable energy transmission superhighway.

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But five groups are filing against the project. The largest, Occidental Petroleum; is asking FERC to dump the project.

Occidental Petroleum’s main argument is that it would put local power companies selling higher-priced power to consumers at a disadvantage. They couldn’t compete with marketers buying at lower prices and routing their power through Tres Amigas.

Negotiable rates would make it possible for Tres Amigas to sell access to its transmission so cheap renewable electricity from rural areas like the windy Dakotas or Wyoming could be sent to other areas of the country where prices are higher.

Tres Amigas CEO Phil Harris said it wasn’t surprising that “the fourth largest oil and gas company in the U.S. does not want renewable energy developed. The positive filings far outweigh the negative”.

The fossil energy giant claims Tres Amigas is anti-competitive because it is unique. Indeed, it is the first of its kind.

Bringing renewable energy to market requires the Tres Amigas transmission super hub, like bringing oil from Alaska required the building of a pipeline. Back in the late 19th century, the first oil pipeline was also, no doubt, unique.

There have been 56 filings in favor of Tres Amigas and only five against it. In some parts of the US, oil is used for heating homes, so renewable electricity would be competing with oil in those markets. In the long run, electricity to run electric cars would compete with oil, too.

Image: Texas Finn

Source: Portales Tribune

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Tags: climate, Electricity, Energy, FERC, fossil party, funding, future party, Grid, Kraemer, Occidental Petroleum, Transmission, Tres Amigas, utility

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

zach

Wow, ahole, i think that is outside the bounds of respectful discussion.

one quick question: if you were given the opportunity when people discovered the “modern life” they could create with fossil fuels, would you have resisted change in all the sames ways you are resisting change now?

to be quite honest, we never would have the modern life that we have today if people so scared of change and innovation had their way in the past
zach

Wow, ahole, i think that is outside the bounds of respectful discussion.

one quick question: if you were given the opportunity when people discovered the “modern life” they could create with fossil fuels, would you have resisted change in all the sames ways you are resisting change now?

to be quite honest, we never would have the modern life that we have today if people so scared of change and innovation had their way in the past
Paul

@Ahole Yeehaa red neck!
Paul

@Ahole Yeehaa red neck!
Ahole

And if you’re a complete asshole you tell you kids they don’t have electricity because you went with fucking useless green technology. Prove your green capabilities before you preach you assholes. Hell yes, this is a moral question.

How hard is it to understand that modern life owns it all to fossile fuels?
Ahole

And if you’re a complete asshole you tell you kids they don’t have electricity because you went with fucking useless green technology. Prove your green capabilities before you preach you assholes. Hell yes, this is a moral question.

How hard is it to understand that modern life owns it all to fossile fuels?
J

Not only is the Tres Amigas Hub a good step forward, but imagine a super intercontinental electic highway spanning from Europe through North America to East Asia.

Spanning the time zones would be a fablulous bonus.
J

Not only is the Tres Amigas Hub a good step forward, but imagine a super intercontinental electic highway spanning from Europe through North America to East Asia.

Spanning the time zones would be a fablulous bonus.