"Transmission developers are marking 20 years since the biggest blackout in North American history with calls for US energy regulators to finalize a rule to make it easier to invest in making the power grid more resilient.
In August 2003, a cascading blackout that knocked out power to more than 50 million people in the Northeast US and Canada highlighted fundamental shortfalls in managing a grid that spans multiple states and regions. The blackout prompted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take steps to address those challenges.
Today, the goal of achieving net-zero emissions from the grid by 2035 while keeping the lights on has again highlighted the importance of investment, developers said.
“The blackout highlighted and demonstrated to us that we are all connected and how important having a strong, reliable, resilient backbone transmission grid is for our customers,” said Linda Apsey, president and CEO of ITC Holdings Corp., the largest US independent electricity transmission company."
Daniel Moore reports for Bloomberg Environment August 17, 2023.
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