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Doug Houseman
Visionary and innovator in the utility industry and grid modernization Burns & McDonnell

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I have a broad background in utilities and energy. I worked for Capgemini in the Energy Practice for more than 15 years. During that time I rose to the position of CTO of the 12,000 person...

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New $2 Trillion stimulus package...

  • Apr 8, 2021 2:15 pm GMT
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I always find the text of the government press releases interesting. I am sure a fact checker would say this is 100% true. No Pinocchios at all but...

"President Biden’s plan includes an immediate up-front investment of $16 billion that will put hundreds of thousands to work in union jobs"

If you do the math with only 100,000 jobs created at the Average United Mine Workers total hourly compensation of $40 (includes health care, etc.) - then for one hundred thousand workers there is only enough money for these jobs to exist for 2 years (4000 per worker) - no equipment, no supplies, no transport, nothing but labor.

This sort of math to press release mismatch exists in the whole of the document.

As far as grid infrastructure (almost purely transmission) there is extension of tax credits, mostly for renewables, in the bill but little (at least in the press release) of direct investment by the Federal Government. Of course there is the requirement to end fossil generation by 2035, the same time we need to end fossil fuels for vehicles - so we will in that 13-14 year time period need to double total energy generation.

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Matt Chester's picture
Matt Chester on Apr 8, 2021

little (at least in the press release) of direct investment by the Federal Government.

I think that's more a factor of being concise in the press release with the full details being made obvious as people read the bill. For example, the assessment I keep seeing mirrors this one: 

The plan proposes $100 billion in spending on upgrading and building out the nation's aging and regionally siloed electric transmission system. Various studies have estimated the U.S. will need to double or even triple its electric transmission capacity to successfully decarbonize its economy by midcentury.

The proposal would "put hundreds of thousands of people to work laying thousands of miles of transmission lines," according to a White House fact sheet. To that end, the plan would establish a new Grid Deployment Authority within the U.S. Department of Energy to leverage existing rights-of-way for transmission lines along roads and railways. The new office would also support "creative financing tools to spur additional high priority, high-voltage transmission lines."

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