What a $2B Texas project says about U.S. quest for CO2-free grid

Pattern Energy Stories

October 29, 2021

By Edward Klump, Peter Behr
E&E News
10/28/2021

After a dozen years, multiple energy crises, regulatory delays and political turnover, construction of a novel 400-mile power line connecting Texas to the Southeast is finally within sight.

The progress is welcome news for clean energy advocates who believe Southern Cross Transmission and similar long-haul projects are critical to a future in which Texas and the U.S. grid move immense amounts of wind and solar energy to decarbonize the nation’s electric infrastructure.

Millions of Texas customers lost electricity during a winter storm in February as the state faced a shortage of available generation. A proposal called Southern Cross Transmission, if built, could help connect Texas’ main power grid to the U.S. Southeast. Matthew T Rader/Wikipedia

But the $2 billion project, proposed by Pattern Energy Group LP, likely won’t be ready until 2026 at the earliest, if construction starts in 2023.

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