Infrastructure
Citizens for Growth believes the development of new power plants and transmission lines are urgently needed to meet the demands of our growing country.
As you will see from the information below, provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), we have the largest electric power system in the world. We are currently ahead of our nearest competitor, China, by 100%. To keep it that way, our system must be continually maintained and improved. A robust transmission system is crucial to maintaining the high level of reliability that our nation’s citizens, businesses, and economy itself depend on. Power plants must constantly be built or refitted to keep up with our growing population and the energy demands of our rapidly advancing information-based economy. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) states that we must grow our current system by close to 2% a year to keep up with growth.
Looking at the following facts, you will see how we have fallen crucially behind:
Transmission lines: America operates about 157,000 miles of high voltage, (over 230kV) electric transmission lines. While electricity demands increased by about 25% since 1990, construction of transmission facilities decreased about 30%. (Source: US Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability). The result is grid congestion, meaning higher electricity costs and lower reliability. The resulting power outages and quality disturbances cost the economy between $25 billion to $180 billion per year.
Generation: From 1991-2001, generation was being added at the rate of only 0.86% per year, while demand was growing at the rate of 2.7% per year. (Source: NERC)
Power plants: When retirements of current plants are taken into consideration, the U.S. is projected to need to add at least 700 new power plants in the next 10 years to meet demand. (Source: Senators Schumer and Collins) Looking at a 12 year lead time to build nuclear plants and 5 years to build coal plants, time is of the essence when it comes to the siting and approval process.
Latest Statistics (provided by EIA):
 According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the electricity generated in America in 2002 came from the following sources:
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Electricity is consumed in great quantity by every sector of the American economy — industrial, commercial, and residential. Statistics about electricity consumption compiled in 2002 by the EIA showed the following breakdown:
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The EIA predicts that total electricity demand will grow by 1.8% to 1.9% percent per year through 2025. To keep pace with this demand and to replace aging facilities, the United States must add nearly 400,000 MWe of new capacity over the next 20 years. Currently at 800,000 MWe, we must grow our capacity by 50% by 2025.
