Today, the Progressive Policy Institute hosted an event with U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and a panel of energy experts, focused on expanding power line capacity to enable renewable energy deployment.
“Senator Hickenlooper has forged a compelling record as a leader on clean energy and the fight against climate change, from his service as Governor of Colorado to the U.S. Senate. PPI was grateful to have facilitated this engaging roundtable with the senator and our panel of distinguished experts, centering the goals of maintaining the integrity of the electrical grid, expanding capacity while lowering consumer costs, and aggressively confronting climate change with innovative, forward-thinking solutions. Prioritizing these efforts will deliver benefits from public health, to climate, to cost reduction — while protecting our environment and driving job creation,” said Paul Bledsoe, PPI Strategic Advisor and moderator for the event.
Watch the event livestream here:
Senator Hickenlooper serves on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
“There are lots of benefits from this. It’s going to provide revenue and jobs in rural communities — in other words, this is going to really tie together the country,” said Senator Hickenlooper during the event. “…By investing in transmission and the grid, we’re going to get a level of resiliency that, based on what we’ve seen this year, is sorely lacking in the existing system.”
This event’s panelists included Donnie Colston, Director of Utilities for IBEW; Bob Kump, President of Avangrid; Sue Tierney, energy analyst and author of the National Academy Sciences Report; Macky McCleary, energy consultant and former Rhode Island Utility regulator; and Bill Parsons, Chief Operating Officer for the American Council on Renewable Energy.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
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Media Contact: Aaron White – awhite@ppionline.org
