Opinion: Want clean and reliable power? Invest in the grid.

We cannot afford any further delays as this transition will bring down costs for consumers, create jobs, and reduce fossil fuel pollution.

John Norris
Guest columnist
  • John Norris served as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board from 2005 to 2009 and as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2010 to 2014.

The North American power grid is often called the world’s largest and most complex machine. When you flip your light switch, charge your phone, or plug in your toaster, you rely on the right amount of electrons to be available immediately to meet your power needs.  

Our current system was built to rely on shipping fossil fuel — predominantly coal and natural gas — over rail or through a pipeline to a local power plant to generate the electricity that is sent to your home over power lines. Iowa has been a leader in shifting generation away from fossil fuels, but the bigger regional grid we’re part of is still relying on coal and gas for about three-quarters of its supply, which is costly and polluting. 

Wind and solar generation both have zero fuel cost and zero emissions and are now consistently less expensive than power produced by fossil fuel. 

So why aren’t we using and exporting more of these efficient, low-cost energy sources? The key barrier is our inability to deliver the electricity from where the wind is blowing and the sun is shining to consumers. 

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That requires a network of long-range transmission lines that can transfer a large volume of electricity across long distances. This means replacing the need to ship fossil fuels over rail and pipeline with the ability to send clean energy over long-range transmission lines. By adding geographic diversity to our grid, we maximize our ability to tap into those areas where the wind is gusting and solar panels are soaking up rays. Coupling grid expansion with battery storage will enable us to mitigate for intermittency when locally there’s no wind or when the sun isn’t out. This improved grid will lower consumer costs, increase reliability, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Recently, the board of directors for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, a little-known organization with tremendous power over our electric grid, took a step toward addressing this issue by approving a set of long-range transmission projects. This is the first of a series of transmission line projects MISO is considering, and this first set will enable the creation of over 200,000 clean energy jobs, 36,000 of them in Iowa, and provide enough clean energy to power 12 million homes in the MISO region, according to an analysis by the Clean Grid Alliance, a renewable energy advocate in Minnesota. 

Sheep mow down grass alongside a solar array operated by the Farmers Electric Cooperative, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, in Johnson County, Iowa.

In fact, of the 15 MISO member states, Iowa stands to have the greatest cost-to-benefit ratio for the recently approved transmission investments, gaining at least $3.20 in benefits for every $1 invested. In addition, nearly 95% of the transmission expansion in Iowa will be built on existing right of ways.

But we need more, and we need it faster. Throughout Iowa and the Upper Midwest states, there are over 100 wind, solar, and battery storage projects waiting to be built that require added transmission capacity. 

Our state has many voices in the MISO stakeholder groups that the MISO board will be listening to on subsequent votes to expand the power grid. Among those Iowa voices are the Iowa Utilities Board; the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate; and investor-owned utilities such as MidAmerican, Alliant and ITC. They should all make their voices heard in support of MISO’s transmission-expansion plans.

The last time MISO launched a successful transmission planning process, I was serving as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board. That was over a decade ago. The transmission lines from those plans are still not completely built, as it often takes a decade or more from planning to actual lines being built and energized. The lines MISO recently voted on and those it will be planning over the next 24 months will still take years before they are in service.

We cannot afford any further delays as this transition will bring down costs for consumers, create jobs, and reduce fossil fuel pollution. Given Iowa’s tremendous potential for economic opportunity from these projects, our stakeholders must step up and push for a grid that is prepared for the energy needs of today and tomorrow. 

John Norris, Democratic candidate for governor, Thursday, May 17, 2018, in Des Moines.

John Norris served as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board from 2005 to 2009 and as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2010 to 2014.