The other half is getting it onto the transmission grid.

A. It's just like the electric transmission grid, which is a point of focus right now from a reliability standpoint.

The problem is not so much the amount of power available as it is bottlenecks in the transmission grid.

"All across the country, they are basically backing away from the transmission grid by building local generation," he said.

Between the two is the transmission grid - once securely part of an integrated industry, now looking increasingly neglected.

"Every line on the transmission grid is supposed to be accounted for," he said.

For two days, the House committee has discussed the difficulties of expanding the transmission grid's capacity.

With grid-tied systems, excess electricity can be sent to the transmission grid.

Phase one would produce 740 megawatts and help stabilize the local transmission grid.

We learned from the 1996 blackout in the West that operators of the transmission grid need to communicate better.