The United States stands at a crossroads in its energy future. In 2024, just 322 miles of high-voltage transmission lines were completed, marking the third slowest year for such construction in the past 15 years, while the IEA tracked 1,650 GW of solar and wind projects in advanced stages of development that are awaiting grid connections. This gap between clean energy potential and grid reality reveals a problem that runs deeper than engineering or financing. At its core lies a challenge that affects every transmission project: securing the land needed to build.
Land aggregation, the process of assembling multiple parcels along a transmission corridor, has emerged as one of the most pressing bottlenecks in grid expansion. While renewable energy projects can be built in a few years, transmission lines that connect them to population centers often face decade-long delays, not because of technical challenges, but because of the complex web of land rights, property negotiations, and regulatory approvals required to move forward.
For companies like Almighty Energy working in solar and transmission infrastructure, understanding the land acquisition landscape isn’t optional. It’s the foundation that determines whether ambitious clean energy projects actually get built.
The Transmission Gap That’s Holding Back Renewable Energy
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. said its aggregated assessment area summer peak demand forecast is expected to rise by over 79 GW, while its aggregated winter peak demand forecasts are increasing by nearly 91 GW. This surge comes as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and reshoring of manufacturing push electricity demand higher than it’s been in decades.
Here’s the problem. Nearly 2,600 gigawatts of generation and storage capacity are now actively seeking grid interconnection, representing more than twice the total installed capacity of the existing U.S. power plant fleet. But these projects can’t deliver electrons to homes and businesses without the transmission lines to carry that power. Building those lines requires threading infrastructure through hundreds of miles of private land, public rights-of-way, environmentally sensitive areas, and communities that may not welcome the disruption.
The Department of Energy’s 2024 National Transmission Planning Study implies the need to build roughly 5,000 miles of new high-capacity transmission per year in the U.S. to ensure grid reliability. We’re building less than a tenth of that. The shortfall isn’t primarily about technology or investment capital. It’s about land.
Why Land Aggregation Makes or Breaks Transmission Projects
Unlike a solar farm or wind project that occupies a defined footprint, transmission lines snake across landscapes for hundreds of miles. Each mile requires easements or full acquisition from multiple property owners, each with different motivations, concerns, and negotiating positions.
The complexity multiplies quickly. The siting and construction of interstate transmission lines requires the acquisition of large quantities of private and or public lands. A single 100-mile transmission corridor might cross agricultural land, residential properties, commercial parcels, state highways, federal land managed by multiple agencies, and existing utility corridors. Each represents a separate negotiation, a different regulatory framework, and potential for conflict.
In 2025, statistics reveal that only 2 out of 18 lawsuits were resolved in favor of opponents to such projects, underscoring the contentious nature of property procurement. Even when projects ultimately prevail, these legal battles add years and millions to project timelines.
For Almighty Energy and other developers pursuing large-scale transmission infrastructure, efficient land aggregation becomes the difference between a project that moves forward and one that stalls indefinitely. The challenge isn’t just acquiring land. It’s assembling a continuous corridor through hundreds of individual parcels in a timeframe that makes economic sense.
The Real Costs of Delayed Land Acquisition
When transmission projects face land acquisition delays, the consequences ripple through the entire clean energy ecosystem. A disputed transmission line project running across southern Wisconsin will now cost roughly $90 million more than its owners expected due to rising material costs, land acquisition expenses and ongoing legal challenges. Material costs for that project rose an average of 59 percent, while land acquisition costs increased 95 percent in Dane and Iowa counties due largely to increasing land values.
These aren’t isolated examples. Every month of delay means escalating construction costs, uncertain regulatory environments, and the risk that clean energy projects waiting for transmission will themselves be delayed or canceled. Developers find themselves caught in a paradox: the longer land acquisition takes, the more expensive it becomes, which creates pressure to rush negotiations, which in turn can sour relationships with landowners and spark opposition that extends timelines even further.
There are human costs too. Landowners that allow wind turbines or solar arrays on their land generally receive annual payments, but transmission infrastructure typically involves one-time easement payments. Farmers may face ongoing operational costs resulting from transmission infrastructure including impediments to aerial spraying, precision agriculture, or irrigation equipment. Many feel transmission developers receive less favorable compensation than energy generation projects, breeding resentment that complicates future negotiations.
Strategic Approaches to Effective Land Aggregation
The most successful transmission projects don’t treat land acquisition as a transaction to be completed as quickly as possible. They treat it as a relationship-building process that begins years before construction.
Early Stakeholder Engagement
To effectively navigate these hurdles, property acquisition directors must prioritize early engagement with landowners, fostering trust and facilitating smoother negotiations. This means reaching out to communities and individual landowners before route selections are finalized, explaining project benefits, listening to concerns, and adjusting plans where feasible to address local priorities.
Companies working on transmission infrastructure, including Almighty Energy, benefit from transparent communication about what landowners can expect: construction timelines, ongoing maintenance requirements, compensation structures, and the project’s role in regional energy security and clean energy goals.
Using Existing Rights-of-Way
Governors may choose to assist directly by offering to host transmission infrastructure along existing state land, such as highway rights of way or other available parcels. Since highway rights of way are already public property, the land acquisition process may be shortened or eliminated entirely.
Highway rights of way have been previously disturbed by road construction. As such, rights of way may qualify as “categorical exclusions” reducing the need for additional environmental or cultural resources permitting under federal environmental laws. Co-locating transmission along railroads, pipelines, and existing utility corridors offers similar advantages: reduced environmental impact, simplified permitting, and fewer individual landowner negotiations.
This strategy isn’t without challenges. Interstate highway exits and development clustered around them can present routing obstacles. But for many projects, leveraging existing corridors can cut years from the land aggregation timeline.
Technology-Enabled Land Management
Modern land acquisition increasingly relies on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, artificial intelligence for route optimization, and digital document management to track negotiations across hundreds of parcels simultaneously. These tools help identify potential conflicts early, model alternative routes, and maintain transparent records that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges.
For companies like Almighty Energy executing large-scale solar and transmission projects, sophisticated data analysis helps prioritize which parcels are most important to acquire early, which landowners might be most receptive to negotiation, and where environmental or cultural resources might create complications.
The Federal and State Policy Landscape
Land acquisition for transmission doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It operates within overlapping federal, state, and local regulatory frameworks that can either accelerate or obstruct progress.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act amended Section 216 of the Federal Power Act to address issues identified in earlier decisions that had limited federal authority over transmission siting. The Act established mechanisms for designating National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors where projects could access federal funding and streamlined permitting.
The linear and long-distance nature of transmission infrastructure means these projects cross numerous jurisdictions and permitting regimes including National Environmental Policy Act environmental reviews, agencies like Army Corp of Engineers and Bureau of Land Management, and permits under Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Navigating this maze requires specialized knowledge and often takes longer than the actual construction.
Recent federal policy has recognized these challenges. FERC Order 1920 requires transmission providers to conduct long-term planning and update plans every five years, considering state renewable energy commitments and interregional transmission needs. These planning reforms aim to create more predictability for developers pursuing large-scale projects.
Yet many developers opt to build smaller, shorter lines that will not, in aggregate, efficiently incorporate new, clean resources and get power where it is most needed. The complexity of land aggregation across multiple states remains a powerful disincentive to building the long-distance, high-capacity transmission lines the grid needs most.
Case Studies in Overcoming Land Barriers
While challenges abound, several recent projects demonstrate that strategic land aggregation can succeed even in difficult circumstances.
The SunZia transmission project, which will move renewable energy from New Mexico to Arizona and California, faced a 17-year permitting process but recently broke ground. Once built, it will be the largest renewable energy project in the Western Hemisphere. The project’s success came from persistent stakeholder engagement, willingness to modify routes based on community input, and coordination across multiple federal land management agencies.
The 17-year permitting of the SunZia transmission line project between New Mexico and Arizona is a case study in how difficult permitting and siting can be, but also in how perseverance and adaptive strategies can ultimately succeed.
Other projects have found success through different approaches. Some utilities have purchased agricultural land outright rather than just easements, giving them more control over the corridor and providing farmers with capital to relocate or retire. Others have structured compensation to include annual payments similar to wind lease arrangements, addressing landowner concerns about ongoing impacts.
The Path Forward for Transmission Development
The United States cannot meet its clean energy goals, maintain grid reliability, or support growing electricity demand without a massive expansion of transmission infrastructure. Land aggregation will determine whether that expansion happens at the pace required.
Several trends point toward potential acceleration. States are increasingly recognizing transmission as state interests, with governors taking active roles in facilitating projects that bring economic benefits and clean energy to their regions. Federal incentives through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act are making projects more financially viable even when land acquisition costs run high.
Technology continues to improve the land acquisition process. Advanced modeling can identify optimal routes that balance engineering requirements, environmental sensitivity, and landowner concerns. Digital platforms streamline communication with hundreds of stakeholders simultaneously.
Most importantly, the transmission industry is learning from past mistakes. This proactive approach can substantially mitigate resistance and enhance collaboration with communities and individual landowners. Projects that begin with genuine engagement, fair compensation, and transparent communication about benefits and impacts are completing land acquisition faster and with less conflict.
For companies working across solar and transmission infrastructure, the message is clear: land aggregation isn’t an afterthought to be handled once engineering plans are complete. It’s a core competency that requires dedicated expertise, long-term relationship building, and strategic planning from the earliest project stages.
What This Means for Energy Developers
As electricity demand surges and renewable energy deployment accelerates, transmission will remain the connective tissue that makes clean energy possible at scale. Land aggregation sits at the center of this challenge.
Developers entering this space need to understand that successful transmission projects are built on more than steel towers and copper wire. They’re built on trust with landowners, strategic use of existing corridors, technological sophistication in route planning, and the patience to engage communities long before construction begins.
Almighty Energy’s focus on large-scale solar and transmission projects reflects recognition of these realities. Executing complex infrastructure requires not just technical expertise but also skill in assembling land rights across diverse properties and stakeholder groups.
The transmission expansion America needs won’t happen overnight. But with strategic approaches to land aggregation, policy support for streamlined permitting, and genuine commitment to working with landowners and communities, the pace can accelerate. The companies that master these challenges won’t just build transmission lines. They’ll help build the foundation for a reliable, affordable, and clean energy future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is land acquisition so challenging for transmission projects?
Transmission lines can span hundreds of miles across diverse properties, requiring negotiations with numerous landowners who have different concerns and priorities. Each property represents a separate negotiation, and objections from even a small number of landowners can delay entire projects. Route selection can become controversial due to real or perceived impacts on the environment, home values, natural resources, cultural resources, and current land ownership. The process crosses multiple regulatory jurisdictions at federal, state, and local levels, each with distinct requirements that must be satisfied before construction can proceed.
How long does it typically take to secure land rights for a major transmission project?
The timeline varies widely but can extend to a decade or longer for interstate projects. The 17-year permitting of the SunZia transmission line project between New Mexico and Arizona is a case study in how difficult permitting and siting can be. Even after permits are secured, individual land negotiations continue. The process involves environmental reviews, stakeholder consultations, route adjustments, and often legal challenges, all of which extend timelines. Projects that use existing rights-of-way or focus on community engagement from the start can significantly reduce these timeframes.
What compensation do landowners receive for transmission easements?
Compensation structures vary but typically involve a one-time payment based on the property value affected by the easement. Landowners may feel the impacts to views are not adequately compensated. Transmission lines can interfere with agricultural practices such as precision agriculture, aerial spraying, or irrigation. Some projects now offer annual payments or additional compensation for ongoing impacts. Federal projects must follow the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act, which requires written offers, proper appraisals, and non-coercive negotiations. Landowners dissatisfied with offers can seek independent appraisals or legal counsel.
Can eminent domain be used to acquire land for private transmission projects?
Yes, in most states. The power of eminent domain, which is available to energy companies under state and federal statutes, is a powerful tool for private entities seeking to acquire property for new energy corridors. Transmission is generally considered a public benefit, giving utility companies condemnation authority when negotiations fail. However, eminent domain requires proving public necessity, paying fair market value, and following specific legal procedures. Companies typically use eminent domain only as a last resort because it damages community relationships and can generate organized opposition that affects other aspects of the project.
How can transmission developers reduce land acquisition delays?
The most effective strategy is early and transparent engagement with affected communities and landowners before finalizing routes. Early engagement with the general public and the affected communities is an important tool during the transmission siting and permitting process. Using existing rights-of-way along highways, railroads, or utility corridors can dramatically reduce the number of individual negotiations required. Technology tools like GIS mapping help identify optimal routes that minimize conflicts. Fair compensation that addresses ongoing impacts rather than just initial easement value helps build goodwill. Finally, demonstrating clear public benefits, job creation, and economic development associated with the project can convert skeptics into supporters.
