Thread by @pfairley

@NREL just dropped a new draft of its missing grid modernization study.
- Seams returns >2 years after Trump appointees squelched it
- 2 months after @INVW exposed their meddling
- And 1 month after @HouseScience told @SecBrouillette to #FreeSeams.
THREAD
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

The #FreeSeams study projected that building a national power grid would cut costs + carbon by killing off coal and boosting wind & solar. The new @NREL Seams ordered by @Energy Dept politicos adds scenarios that "dilute" those findings. 2/7
nrel.gov/analysis/seams…

@NREL Seams' new DOE-approved scenarios assume:
- higher costs for power line construction
- lower fossil fuel prices, or
- limited retirement of coal generating stations

Each of those factors make long-distance power transmission look less cost-effective. 3/7

@NREL's DOE-approved rewrite fails to test scenarios that would BOOST the projected benefits from grid modernization. Such as faster growth of wind & solar.

Seams still assumes <50% RE in 2038, whereas states such as CA & NY could have >50% by 2030. 4/7 pv-magazine.com/2019/06/19/new…

Seams returned from the dead with one fix, correcting a set of calculations.

But coauthor @CasparyJay - fmr R&D head @SPPorg - told a Colorado PUC mtg today that the technical tweak doesn't alter Seams bottom-line message: Interconnecting grids yields "very large" benefits. 5/7

Especially at the seam. CO PUC Comm. John Gavan says lack of access to midwest wind power hinders his state's deep #decarbonization goal, = 80% <GHG by 2030 v 2005. "I can't think of a more impactful project than the #MacroGrid" he says, referencing Seams' #HVDC grid design. 6/7

Seams coauthor @ElectrifyBloom says the draft was submitted today to @ieee_pes TPS.

A closing question for #energytwitter experts: Could peer reviewers request more work if they perceive an imbalance in the scenarios? Should they? 7/7
@russellgold @croselund @DrChrisClack