Exclusive: Heinrich proposes 30% credit for long-haul transmission

A senator has introduced a bill that would give a 30% tax credit for building or upgrading long-distance power lines — the big high-voltage transmission lines that carry electricity across state and regional lines, or lines at least 100 miles long. The credit would also apply to offshore wind connections. To qualify, projects would need to add at least 500 megawatts of capacity.

This matters because the U.S. has been building very little new transmission lately — about 400 miles a year in 2023 and 2024, down from nearly 4,000 miles in 2013. That slowdown creates bottlenecks for new power sources and has pushed up "congestion costs," charges that get passed along on utility bills. More transmission capacity, including upgrades to existing lines rather than all-new construction, could help ease those costs over time.

The bill doesn't have a Republican co-sponsor yet, so it's unlikely to pass this year, but it has support from a range of groups, including the utility industry's main trade association and an electrical workers' union. It also doesn't address a separate, bigger obstacle: the slow permitting and legal fights that delay transmission projects for years. Lawmakers are separately negotiating a broader permitting reform deal, and there are signs a deal could be close, though disputes over renewable energy permits on federal land and how to protect utility customers from data-center-driven cost increases could still complicate things. None of this changes anything for homeowners right now, but it signals that lowering electricity costs tied to grid buildout could become a bigger political focus after the November elections.