New Power Grid Would Slice Through Rural Areas

Expanding America's power grid to connect wind and solar power plants to the urban areas they fuel will require thousands of miles of transmission lines. Most of it will be built in rural areas where locals are not likely to be very welcoming.

1 minute read

June 30, 2009, 1:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


This piece from The Daily Yonder looks at the plans and study areas for new transmission lines in rural areas across the country, and the efforts by locals to oppose or prevent them.

"There are tens of thousands of miles of new transmission lines planned or under construction, most traversing ranch and farm land. Some estimate that the country will spend up to $200 billion dollars building out a new electric grid. Most of that money will be spent in rural America, as new transmission lines are strung to connect the wind turbines on the Plains to the cities.

'The wind is the easy part, much easier than the transmission,' said Shelley Sahling-Zart, a vice president of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Electric System. Finding the billions needed for new transmission lines will be difficult. And many of the people standing in the way of this new "superhighway" of high tension lines and giant erector sets of pylons and steel will put up a fuss."

Monday, June 29, 2009 in The Daily Yonder

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 14, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

Regeneration of contaminated industrial land used for waste dumping, West Midlands, UK, 2006 .

EPA Awards $267 Million to Clean Up and Reuse Contaminated Sites

The EPA is investing the funds to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites nationwide, supporting economic growth, community revitalization, and environmental restoration.

May 18 - Environmental Protection

Archway made of bikes in Knoxville, Tennessee over Tennessee River.

Knoxville Dedicates $1M to New Greenway

The proposed greenway would run along North Broadway and connect to 125 miles of existing trails.

May 18 - WATE

25mph speed limit sign with digital "Your Speed" sign below it.

Philadelphia Launches ‘Speed Slots’ Traffic Calming Pilot

The project focuses on a 1.4-mile stretch of Lincoln Drive where cars frequently drive above the posted speed limit.

May 18 - WHYY