Solutions Series: The BIG WIRES Act

 In a world addicted to political spectacle, the most important solutions are often the quietest. The ones without slogans. Without enemies. Without applause lines. The ones designed not to win the war–but to keep the lights on.

In the winter of 2021, a deep freeze plunged Texas into darkness. The state's grid collapsed under the weight of a storm it wasn't built to handle. Dozens died. Millions suffered. In the aftermath, politicians bickered, markets blamed weather, and voters were left with a hard truth: our energy infrastructure is dangerously fragile.

That vulnerability isn't unique to Texas. It is national. And yet–three years later–almost nothing has changed. 

Except, perhaps, a bill you've never heard of.

The BIG WIRES Act (short for Building Integrated Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply) is a bipartisan proposal introduced in 2023. Its goal is simple: ensure that every U.S energy grid can transfer a minimum percentage of electricity across regions during peak demand.

It doesn't overhaul the market.

It doesn't require mandates on fuel sources.

It doesn't even create a new agency.

What it does is this: require the grid to behave like a grid.

Right now, most U.S. electricity markets are fragmented and inefficient. Power generated in one region often can't flow to another–even if demand is surging and supply exists. That's not just a technical hiccup. It's a design failure that turns bad weather into disaster.

The BIG WIRES Act gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a straightforward job: ensure that 15-30% of peak demand can be et through cross-regional transmission. That's it. Build the wires. Make the system work.

What makes this bill special isn't just what it does–but how it does it.

• It doesn't pick ideological sides. It doesn't demand renewables or protect fossil fuels. It simply makes the system more resilient–so whatever energy source you favor, you can actually use it.
• It doesn't blow up the budget. Infrastructure investments are made by utilities or regional operators, not through sweeping federal spending.
• It doesn't punish states. It strengthens what already exists by enforcing interoperability, not forcing conformity.

And perhaps most importantly: it's grounded in reality.

Studies from Princeton, MIT, and FERC itself show that strengthening interregional grid capacity reduces costs, improves reliability, and accelerates the transition to cleaner energy without mandates. This is technocratic reform with moral consequence. Exactly the kind of legislation a healthy democracy should prize.

Why hasn't it passed?

The BIG WIRES Act should be a political slam dunk. It has bipartisan authors. It appeals to utilities, consumer advocates, climate hawks, and grid reliability experts alike.

And yet...it stalls.

Why?

Because it's not emotionally charged. It doesn't divide voters. It doesn't animate a donor base or energize a culture war. In today's landscape, that makes it politically invisible.

And so, despite broad support and near-universal relevance, it gets buried beneath spectacle. Because solving problems quietly doesn't win headlines.

This isn't just a story about energy. It's a story about what politics could be.

Imagine a country that passed laws based on need, not narrative. Where Congress invested in grid resilience not because it polls well, but because it protects lives. Where lawmakers took a win even if it meant the other side got the credit.

That's the world the BIG WIRES Act points toward–a politics of systems, outcomes, and maturity. A politics that builds rather than blames.

And that's why we're telling this story here. Because even if the headlines won't cover it, these are the fights that matter.