In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Catherine Hausman, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, about the costs of not building new electricity transmission lines, particularly in the Midwestern United States. Hausman discusses the benefits of additional electricity transmission for consumer electricity prices, emissions reductions, and electrification of the economy; the companies that may gain or lose revenue if more transmission is built; and how companies that stand to lose revenue from more transmission are preventing the construction of new transmission.

References and recommendations:

“Power Flows: Transmission Lines, Allocative Efficiency, and Corporate Profits” by Catherine Hausman; https://www.nber.org/papers/w32091

“Transmission Impossible? Prospects for Decarbonizing the US Grid” by Lucas W. Davis, Catherine Hausman, and Nancy L. Rose; https://www.nber.org/papers/w31377

“Dog Man” books; https://pilkey.com/series/dog-man

“Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York” by Francis Spufford; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Golden-Hill/Francis-Spufford/9781501163883

“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611060/project-hail-mary-by-andy-weir/

Power Flows: Understanding the Barriers to Electricity Transmission, with Catherine Hausman

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.