NextGen Highways is working to advance common-sense policy reforms to transform highway rights-of-way (ROWs) into multi-purpose infrastructure corridors that support electric transmission, broadband deployment, and other critical infrastructure. As we make progress toward that goal, it is imperative that we prioritize our efforts in a way that serves the country’s long-term energy needs. The growing enthusiasm around solar projects in state-owned ROW corridors is a great example of why.
Solar projects in highway rights-of-way are gaining traction across the United States, and for good reason. State departments of transportation (DOTs) are increasingly recognizing the value of these underutilized land areas for renewable energy projects. Highway ROWs, with their unshaded expanses and ease of access, present an ideal opportunity to generate clean energy, reduce land maintenance costs, and even meet their own electricity needs. And by embracing solar, DOTs can contribute to broader state and national goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and bolstering energy security. States like Georgia, Oregon, and Massachusetts are already taking advantage of this potential with solar highway projects that deliver power directly to the grid while reducing environmental impact.
But while ROW solar is an exciting development, it’s critical to recognize that these spaces have an even bigger role to play when it comes to the future of our energy infrastructure. Co-locating electric transmission lines within highway ROWs is a transformative opportunity that needs to be prioritized over solar installations. Why? Because while a few acres of solar panels can generate clean electricity, high-capacity transmission lines enable the movement of much larger amounts of power—often from renewable energy-rich areas to population centers that need it most.
According to studies, the U.S. will need two to three times its current transmission capacity by 2050 to maintain a low-cost, reliable, and clean power grid. In this context, limiting the utilization of state DOTs’ ROW land to solar generation could end up limiting its potential. Transmission lines can deliver the clean energy generated by massive solar and wind farms in remote locations to the cities and industries that need it, creating far-reaching benefits that small-scale solar simply can’t match. In the long run, transmission infrastructure is essential to achieving the deep emissions reductions and energy resilience we need to address climate change.
That’s not to say that solar and transmission can’t coexist—quite the opposite. In fact, co-locating solar panels alongside transmission lines in the same DOT ROWs is a promising solution that could offer the best of both worlds. But we must approach DOT ROW solar development with the long-term perspective in mind. We need to ensure that state policies prioritize transmission where it makes the most sense and that solar projects don’t crowd out the potential for high-capacity transmission infrastructure.