Casar leads 22 House Democrats in pursuit of federal power grid corridors in Texas

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) on Monday led 22 members of Congress in asking the Department of Energy to add Texas to the areas served by proposed federal corridors for electrical transmission.

In May, the department announced 10 proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) that, if implemented, could make federal funds available to expand grid capacity in these areas. However, Texas, which relies on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), was not among the proposed locations.

“The United States needs a 21st century power grid [and] you can’t have a 21st century power grid with a giant Texas-shaped hole in the middle,” Casar told The Hill in an interview. “The previous list of selected corridors continues to exclude Texas and this needs to change. That’s why we’re asking the Department of Energy in its next list to include the addition of transmission in and around the state of Texas.”

In addition to Casar, the letter is signed by Texas Democrats Lloyd Doggett, Jasmine Crockett, Joaquin Castro, Veronica Escobar, Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, as well as Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.D. .Y.), Paul Tonko (DN.Y.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-Calif.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.C.) .Y.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Florida), along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.D.C.).

Casar is a longtime supporter of integrating ERCOT into the national grid and co-sponsored a bill to that effect with Ocasio-Cortez.

In the interview, he pointed to recent MIT research that suggests such a law could have prevented 80% of the blackouts caused in 2021 when extreme winter weather hit Texas.

He cited both the weather and the recent extreme heat that has engulfed much of the US as arguments in favor of expanding the network.

“Texas is the energy capital of the country – when there are extreme temperatures around Texas, Texas should be able to export its energy to reduce blackouts, and when there is extreme heat in Texas, we should be able to import energy so that we don’t have blackouts,” he said. “By helping each other, we will all be better off instead of having Texas as this island.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story