|
|
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Continues on page 2 >> By Jon Hurdle
AOL Energy
The pattern was also seen in March when completions were less than a tenth of the year-ago number. In the first three months of 2012, only 86 miles of transmission were completed. And capital investment is lagging behind year-ago levels, according to SNL Financial. The company's data show the amount of capital raised in the power sector for the year to May 18 this year dropped to $20.19 billion from $23.19 billion a year earlier. The cost of delay The new numbers come amid gathering industry estimates that the cost of work ranging from repairing aging power infrastructure to building new transmission for renewable energy sources to complying with tougher environmental rules will run into the trillions of dollars. The latest warning came from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) which said the U.S. is spending $11 billion a year less than it should on electric infrastructure improvements. Unless spending increases, the country will face a $107 billion electricity investment "gap" by 2020, ASCE said. Still, that deficit could be closed by projects currently planned, according to Energy Central's TransmissionHub, which provides data and research for industry planners. It projected $169.7 billion worth of transmission projects will come on line between 2012 and 2020, accelerating from $7 billion spent on 3,100 miles of transmission projects this year to $31 billion on some 9,700 miles of line in 2015. "The soaring demand for electricity and the need for increased reliability are driving a range of new projects for the North American electric transmission systems," said Rosy Lum, chief analyst for TransmissionHub. But plans don't necessarily become power lines on schedule because of local opposition and regulatory bottlenecks, analysts said. Next page: It's one thing to plan a project, another to build it >>
Got something to say about this article? Be the first to leave a comment!
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Talk Back
