Debt deal short-circuits help for the grid

President Joe Biden is casting his debt ceiling deal with Republicans as a win for clean energy. But one of the greatest hurdles to greening the U.S. electric grid — transmission — was largely unaddressed by the agreement to raise the country’s borrowing limit. The final deal, which Congress must still pass, mandates a single study on the issue of connecting solar and wind power to urban areas. But studies take time — and experts say the U.S. needs to double its rate of transmission expansion to meet Biden’s pledge...