A Well-Connected Western Grid Benefits Birds and Communities

On June 30th, a historic Joint Statement of Agreement was signed at the Western Governors' Association (WGA) Annual Meeting to strengthen coordination on transmission planning across the Intermountain West. This bipartisan Agreement marks a major milestone for the region’s energy future. It also reflects a shared commitment to modernizing the electric grid so it can deliver affordable, reliable power while supporting the clean energy transition and helping address the climate crisis for birds and people. 

Throughout the process, Audubon worked alongside partners to help inform the agreement and build support across the region through trusted relationships and science-based collaboration. As Audubon’s Birds and Transmission report lays out, climate change is one of the greatest long-term threats to birds, and there is no path to stabilizing the climate without dramatically changing how we generate and transport electricity. Thoughtful and early collaboration can help ensure that infrastructure is planned and sited to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts on birds and communities. 

While electricity does flow across western state borders every day, transmission planning and permitting often occur on a state-by-state and agency-by-agency basis. This uncoordinated and piecemeal development creates inefficiencies, stifles strategic regional development, and wastes a vast amount of valuable wind and solar energy potential. By supporting coordinated regional planning efforts across Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, and Washington, the Joint Statement of Agreement represents an important shift toward regional coordination. 

 Through the Agreement, governors in these 11 western states committed to supporting the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition’s (WestTEC) technical analyses that provide western states with a shared foundation for identifying transmission needs and opportunities over 10- and 20-year time horizons with the objective of establishing a more reliable and affordable regional grid. WestTEC’s members represent a diverse set of groups and include state and Tribal governments, utilities, planning bodies, public interest organizations, and other stakeholders. 

Recognizing the need to coordinate permitting across states to accelerate the transmission buildout throughout the West, the Agreement also established the Permitting Alignment & Coordination Task Force (PACT). PACT will be a multi-state effort to improve coordination among states and agencies with respect to permitting for transmission construction and more timely decisions with better environmental and community outcomes. 

Expanding and modernizing the transmission grid is essential to meeting growing electricity needs. Ongoing studies by the U.S. Department of Energy make it clear that our current grid is unable to meet rapidly growing consumer and industry demand, while keeping energy bills affordable for families and ensuring reliability. As new clean energy resources are developed, the grid must be able to move that power where it's needed. A stronger, better-connected transmission system also improves reliability, gives consumers access to a broader mix of energy resources that can help stabilize electricity costs, and strengthens resilience during extreme weather and other disruptions. 

This Agreement demonstrates what's possible when states, conservation organizations, utilities, and developers work together early in the planning process. As the United States continues to modernize and expand its electric grid, collaborative regional approaches like this can help ensure new transmission projects deliver affordable, reliable clean energy while reflecting the needs of wildlife and communities. Audubon looks forward to continuing to work with partners to avoid, minimize and offset impacts to birds and their habitats as we help build a grid that allows both people and birds to thrive.