New energy push demands expansion of transmission lines.

• Author: Best, Allen
• Position: ENERGY

Giant wind turbines have become the glamorous icons for renewable energy. But will giant electrical transmission lines ever become half as sexy? They'll have to, said speakers in October at the Colorado New Energy Economy Conference.

"If you're going to be for renewable energy generation, you have to be for transmission," said Marc Spitzer, who sits on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates interstate transmission of electricity and natural gas.

Electrical demand comes mostly from cities. Renewable energy, however, can be found mostly in sparsely populated areas, including the nation's wind alley from North Dakota to Texas. Colorado lies on the margins.

Gov. Bill Ritter, in a keynote address, said development of a new transmission infrastructure remains a key challenge to development of wind, solar and geothermal sources in Colorado, but also the state's natural gas. With improved transmission, he said, Colorado can become a net exporter of renewable energy.

Ritter alluded to the High Plains Express, a transmission line being discussed that would originate in eastern Wyoming, sweep southward across Colorado and into New Mexico and then Arizona, delivering wind and solar power to Las Vegas, Phoenix and other major cities.

Experts say outputs of wind and solar energy, variable by nature, can be balanced with a much better connected grid, reducing how much natural gas generating power must be provided as a backup.

But transmission lines remain controversial, especially in areas that do not directly benefit...