The Northwest may not be getting any seats on the Obama Cabinet but our local Congresscritters are looking to obtain stimulus package money for a huge new model project to build a new, green power grid along the Seattle - Portland corridor. 

Creating a modern grid that allows the population centers to use alternative energy is at the top of the list for all those working against time to solve the climate change crisis. 

McClatchy Newspapers has an article up describing the opportunity and the problem:

"The problem is not just getting wind power to market, but also solar and other alternative energy resources. The nation's existing transmission system is woefully inadequate. In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the grid a "D" rating and a consulting firm, the Brattle Group of Cambridge, Mass. , has estimated it would cost nearly $900 billion to modernize the transmission and distribution system."

There's more to a new grid than location, although that's critical.  A new grid will also make it easier for individuals and groups to "sell" energy to the system.  Jay Inslee, WA-01 Congressman, a leader on green issues in the House, says, "We need a grid for this century, not the last."

All proposals would make use of the Bonneville Power Administration's unique role in providing electricity in the Northwest.  The BPA has a line of credit with the U.S. Treasury.  Doubling that line of credit, something that Senators Murray and Cantwell have spoken to Senate leadership about including in the stimulus bill, would provide $7 billion to pay for the transmission upgrades, improvements at the dams and other projects in the Northwest.

The public utilities appear to be in.  Steve Johnson, eexecutive director of the Washington state Public Utility District Association, said expansion of the BPA transmission system as part of the stimulus bill is a no-brainer.  "It's a modern version of what was done during the Great Depression," Johnson said.