The Biden/Harris Energy Policy Is a Mess, and Kamala Harris Owns it

The Biden/Harris Department of Energy, led by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, announced Tuesday the awarding of debt-funded grants totaling $2.2 billion to help fund 8 power transmission projects impacting more than 1,000 miles of lines across 18 states. DOE’s release says the grants are designed to “protect against growing threats of extreme weather events, lower costs for communities, and catalyze additional grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing and data centers.”

The release specifically identifies projects for states like New York, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. That’s all great, and no one can doubt those states have pressing needs to upgrade their electricity infrastructure.

Given the release’s language talking about the objective of hardening transmission systems to protect against extreme weather events, it does seem more than a little odd that none of the projects specified would do anything to upgrade systems in states like Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, or Georgia. Those states, of course, are historically the most vulnerable to major impacts from hurricanes and tropical storms.