Green New Deal Plan - Renewable Energy System

Interstate Renewable Electricity System, Smart electric grid and storage

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, our electric grid, the set of high-capacity wires that moves electricity all around the country, is in terrible shape, earning a D+ grade. The current system will simply not be able to handle a Wind Farm Network, or other renewable sources such as solar or geothermal.

We also want the grid to be "smart", that is, able to integrate with information technology and sense and control problems and even home appliances in order to keep the national electric system running smoothly.

A well-designed grid could also include a substantial amount of storage of electricity. There are many types of storage, but we will assume a certain amount of large-scale battery storage.

Cost

According to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute, as explained in an article in the New York Times, an upgraded smart grid would require between $338 billion and $476 billion. The Climate Institute has also put forward a proposal for a Supergrid that would cost $500 billion, so let's assume $500 billion. Let's assume a 20-year construction period, at $25 billion per year In addition, a national set of large battery systems could be integrated into the network, providing another layer of protection against intermittency problems. Gar Lipow in his book Solving the Climate Crisis, chapter 15, estimates $1,000 per KW capacity , or $1.2 trillion over, say, 20 years, or an extra $60 billion per year to add in a battery storage system. The New York Times reports that the price of storage per kWh has declined to $300 to $400, with prices possibly declining to $100, so we could have about three times the storage capacity calculated by Lipow a few years ago, leading to about 4 terawatts of storage capacity. The solar electricity and storage program also would create about 15 terawatts more available for the grid.