Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Q&A: How counties can use transmission revenue for local benefits

Midwest Energy News: A new report aims to highlight the financial benefits that transmission projects can bring to rural counties.

Specifically, the report from the Center for Rural Affairs takes a closer look at how counties in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas were impacted economically by transmission lines – during construction of the project, after the lines are in service, and through the taxes and fees that accrue to government bodies.

“It’s a familiar story that renewable energy brings economic development to rural areas but we forget that transmission does that, too – not only in the way it enables that renewable energy but [because] these are big projects that create a lot of economic activity in rural communities,” according to policy director Johnathan Hladik.

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