A new study by the Battle Group has concluded that wind-generated electricity in much of the United States will become cost-competitive with power generated from conventional power plants that burn coal and oil after being connected to the electricity grid via new transmission lines.

The Brattle Group study, "Transmission Super Highway: Benefits of Extra High Voltage Transmission Overlays in the Midwest," shows that wind power from the windiest onshore parts of the country can displace power generated from fossil fuels by 2020, after climate policies are adopted and entrenched in the North American system.

The study (pdf) corroborated the conventional wisdom that significant bottlenecks in high-voltage transmission from the upper midwest have slowed wind energy development in the region.