An interesting article dated 11/7/2008 appears in Environment and Energy News about Congressional and FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) involvement in alternative energy generation and an overhauled national grid. They even have a grid map. (Note the 765 kV lines.)
From the article: "The national grid idea not only is opposed by landowners who do not want unsightly power lines or environmentalists worried about damage to natural resources, Brown said, but also is unpopular with vertically integrated utilities that do not want to compete with other utilities and with leaders in regions that have abundant power generation and low electricity prices, who worry that prices will rise if extra electricity is sent elsewhere. . .
"FERC has been encouraging transmission investment using the rate-incentive authority Congress gave the agency in the 2005 energy law and by approving regional cost-allocation strategies. But such plans vary by region and even by facility."
You can find the entire article here http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2008/11/07/2
