(Bloomberg) -- The US should build electric transmission lines in places with strong clean-energy potential rather than waiting for solar and wind farms to be developed first, Xcel Energy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bob Frenzel said in an interview Monday.

Installing power lines first would attract renewable developers as well as big industrial customers looking to tap into the electricity, he said. 

Power demand is expected to soar in coming years due to data centers, new factories and the electrification of cars and home heating. But developing transmission lines is often a long and difficult process, slowed by permitting and legal obstacles. 

“We know where the resource-rich parts of the country are, and we know if we build a grid to those places, then the developers will follow with wind and solar,” Frenzel said during an interview at the EEI Financial Conference in Florida. “That’s a little bit of a flip to how we’ve historically done it.”

Frenzel said the incoming Trump administration could be a strong partner for increasing the amount of cheap energy moving around the US. “I’m going to push hard for the administration to think about how do we build the linear infrastructure this country needs for the next century,” he added. “We’re going to make the grid great again.” 

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