Could The Trump Admin’s New Highway Power Plan Lower Your Electric Bill?
One hundred sixty-one thousand highway miles already permitted. Duffy wants the wires in the ditch, not a new fight for every mile.
Summary
- The Daily Caller reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced America's Great Corridors of Commerce on Aug. 26 to lease already-permitted highway and railroad rights-of-way to private firms for transmission, fiber, water, and pipelines, aiming to cut infrastructure cost and put downward pressure on household rates.
- Duffy wrote that the country has nearly 161,000 miles of highways and 140,000 miles of railroad track. DOT will run a competitive process. Comments close Sept. 12. The first round aims to designate up to five corridors. Corridor managers would typically hold 30-year to 50-year concessions.
- DOT said China built more high-voltage lines in the past 15 years than the United States has built in its history. Delivery charges were 44 percent of the average electric bill in 2025. PJM's capacity auction jumped from $2.2 billion for 2023-24 to $16.1 billion for 2026-27, with its monitor citing data-center demand.
- No corridors are selected yet and savings are not guaranteed. Participation is voluntary. Tunnels could use TIFIA or RRIF loans. Private firms could pay cash to avoid some federal-finance rules.
Commentary
An Akron night lineman still smells ozone and watches a ditch that should not need a 10-year fight to carry a wire next to a road Eisenhower already bought. He did not climb a pole so a data hall could dump $16.1 billion onto a kitchen bill.
One hundred sixty-one thousand. Two point two billion. Sixteen point one. The honest mom already paid the kilowatt. The corridor is the first honest shortcut.
Look every working father who still opens a power bill at a vinyl table in the eye and answer this: if the ditch is already permitted, who still wants the next mile fought from scratch?
Comments
161,000 highway miles. 140,000 rail. Up to five corridors. Sept. 12 comments. Hold that map.
I stood a pole so a kitchen would stay lit. A 15-year China lead is a warning, not a mood.
30-year to 50-year concessions. 44 percent delivery. PJM $2.2B to $16.1B. Publish the three.
Allied grids still hang a wire beside a road they already paid for. A new fight is a bill.
No guarantee. Voluntary. TIFIA and RRIF optional. File the three.
I still climb in the rain at 3 a.m. I want the next data hall on a corridor, not on my kitchen rate.
A kid should not wait on a courtesy review for a ditch that already exists. Keep the five corridors.
A scattered upgrade is a second border around the bill. The first permitted mile should have been enough.
Daily Caller printed 161,000, $16.1 billion, 44 percent, and Sept. 12. Argue those nouns.
Keep AGCC. Hang the wire in the ditch. A kitchen bill is not a data-center tax.
