Touting the potential benefits for wind power, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is applauding the Trump administration’s newly released infrastructure principles, a “Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America.”
Importantly, says AWEA, the principles address energy and rural infrastructure along with roads, bridges, airports and other projects.
“We see significant promise in President Trump’s plan,” states Amy Farrell, senior vice president of government and public affairs for AWEA. “With 99 percent of American wind farms built in rural areas, an investment in transmission infrastructure boosts rural economies while improving resilience and reliability, delivering low-cost power to consumers and strengthening U.S. energy dominance.”
AWEA explains that transmission lines are the highways that carry low-cost energy harvested from wind turbines on farms and ranches to homes and businesses. Furthermore, technicians who keep wind turbines working at peak performance are some of the fastest-growing jobs in America. More transmission capacity means these benefits will reach many more parts of the U.S., says AWEA.
“Transmission’s benefits far outweigh costs, but government regulations cause delays that kill these transformative infrastructure projects,” Farrell continues. “If Congress produces a balanced infrastructure bill that streamlines transmission siting and permitting, the president’s pen could unleash new energy resources and tens of billions of dollars in consumer savings each year while also making our grid more resilient to threats.”
Recently, following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, AWEA pointed out that the president’s focus on boosting the country’s infrastructure would be beneficial to both onshore and offshore wind.
More on the administration’s new infrastructure goals can be found here.
