John Arnold, the billionaire philanthropist who made his fortune trading commodities, is betting that building more long-distance transmission lines will be the key to the US clean-energy transition.
Arnold said he’s committed “several hundred million dollars” to Grid United, a joint venture he co-founded with transmission pioneer Michael Skelly, to acquire land, easements and the permits needed to build power lines that can stretch for hundreds of miles. Arnold and Skelly are seeking to break a longstanding challenge in the industry where regulators, utilities, customers and investors are wary of projects that haven’t already secured necessary approvals.
Arnold is moving ahead even though building ...
