Powered by solar and wind, this $10B transmission line will carry more energy than the Hoover Dam

abcnews.go.com:

Executives with one of the largest wind and solar energy development companies in the world are gathering with federal officials on the dusty plains of New Mexico to mark the groundbreaking of what will be the largest renewable energy infrastructure pr...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An energy infrastructure project bigger than the Hoover Dam is how Hunter Armistead describes the $10 billion venture his company will be overseeing during the next three years.

As the chief executive of one of the world's largest wind and solar development companies, Armistead said breaking ground on Pattern Energy's SunZia transmission line marks a major milestone as the United States looks to make good on promises to address climate change and bolster the nation's already overwhelmed power grids as demand increases and weather events become more extreme.

It is also a cautionary tale, he told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of Friday's ceremony on the open plains of north-central New Mexico.

The U.S. can't afford to take 12 years to “create this type of solution” given the growing need for more energy infrastructure, Armistead said.

He pointed to Europe and China, where billions of dollars are being invested in new high-voltage lines to connect power plants to cities where demand is high.

“They all recognize the need to build out bulk transmission, to create inter-regional transfer points in order to create greater reliability,” he said. «It also creates diversity in resources and diversity in dealing with weather, which is now the new most important factor driving both our load and our generation.”

The Biden administration has set a goal to eliminate carbon emissions from the power sector by 2035. The effort faces numerous