Sep. 2--In marking recently the five years since the Blackout of '03, this editorial page and other observers noted the steps taken to prevent a similar loss of electricity. Those advances have been significant, and essential. There also remains much to do in updating and improving the country's transmission grid, especially in view of expanding mandates in Ohio and elsewhere to tap wind and other renewable energy sources.

Matthew Wald of the New York Times reinforced this point last week reporting, among other things, that as limited as the generation of wind power is today, the task is much easier than moving the electricity to customers. Two forecasts are worth emphasis. One projects demand for electricity growing one-third by 2030. The second involves the expectation that wind and other alternatives will supply 20 percent of the country's electricity in 25 years. (Al Gore talks about the end of the next decade.)

As things now stand, the transmission grid isn't capable of supporting such increases. More, the changes made in the wake of the blackout aren't sufficient, even if fully implemented. Want the country to get serious about wind power? Then, the necessary investment must be made in modernizing the transmission grid.

Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman, now touts wind power. He has in mind a new transmission line from West Texas to the Dallas area. The framework must be replicated across the country, moving power from remote locations (where the wind blows) to highly populated areas, say, from the Dakotas to Chicago, or Northwest Ohio to New Jersey. Thus, modernization involves improving the capacity of transmission lines and extending their reach.

By one estimate, the initial cost of such an endeavor could be as high as $60 billion. Actually, once spread across decades and millions of customers, the expense shouldn't be the concern. The greater worry is the lack of a central authority to get the job done. In that way, Congress must bring coherence to a fragmented system, driven largely by narrow and local interests.

If it does not? The promise of wind and other alternative energy sources will not be realized, adding strain to the environment and the economy.

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