A feasibility analysis for the TransAmerica Generation Project (TAGG)-a national grid proposal

Summary form only given. This presentation discusses the TransAmerica Generation Grid (TAGG) Project (Transmission Component), a new high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line project that would interconnect Arizona, California, Illinois, the Dakotas, Texas, and the states in between to provide a major new conduit for electricity on a national scale. It is proposed that this approximately $11 billion endeavor be initially financed by the federal government as a Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) and subsequent to its construction and becoming operational, would be privatized and operated and managed as a private federally chartered corporation-as is the case with the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal National Mortgage Corporation (Fannie Mae) and other GSEs. The TAGG project has evolved from discussions within the electrical transmission and utility industries, the coal and wind power industries and among state officials in the West and upper Midwest over the last 15 years. It addresses three major concerns that are currently facing the U.S. power industry: (1) It provides a means to tap the tremendous coal and wind power resources of the Dakotas, Colorado and Wyoming for use by the rest of the country and allows the diversification of wind generated power across a large section of the US; (2) It relieves transmission constraints that exist in the southwest and between the upper Midwest and Texas; and (3) It enhances the deregulation of the U.S. power industry by providing existing generation with better access to new markets.