America’s demand for electricity grows steadily. The country’s power needs are forecast to increase by 25 percent by 2011. In the Western United States, load growth will require 30 percent more power by the end of the decade.

Equal in importance to new power generation is the ability to deliver it wherever it is needed. Increasing energy demands add considerable stress to the country’s aging transmission infrastructure. This contributes to regional power shortages and reduces system reliability. Until now, transmission upgrades have been largely ignored in favor of developing new generation.

TAGG offers a unique combined transmission and generation solution.

Lagging Transmission Investment

Our nation’s 158,000-mile electrical transmission system has not kept pace with the growth in generation. According to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), annual investments in transmission have declined nearly $120 million per year over the past 25 years. Transmission investment in 1999 was less than half of what was spent in 1979. The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) forecasts only a 4.2 percent growth in transmission capacity through the remainder of this decade. It is estimated that transmission constraints cost consumers more than $1 billion in 2001.