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For households used to opening their electricity bills with one eye closed, an undersea cable promising to connect the island to Europe’s power grid sounds important, and a group of US lawmakers agrees.
Six members of Congress from both major parties are urging the Trump administration to make the Great Sea Interconnector a strategic priority.
The planned cable would initially connect the electricity systems of Cyprus and Greece through Crete, with Israel expected to join at a later stage. If completed, it would end Cyprus’ isolation as the European Union’s only member state not connected to the continent’s electricity network.
Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider and Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis led the initiative, sending a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ben Black, head of the US International Development Finance Corporation.
They were joined by Reps. Jake Auchincloss, Dan Goldman, Craig Goldman and Haley Stevens.
The lawmakers argue that the project is about much more than simply moving electricity from one country to another.
They see it as an important part of a much larger trade and infrastructure route designed to connect India with Europe through the Middle East. Known as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, the plan would combine shipping, rail, energy and digital links across three regions.
In that bigger picture, Cyprus would sit close to the middle of a new route linking Europe with Israel, the Gulf and India.
The lawmakers said the cable could strengthen cooperation among US partners, create more options for moving energy across the region, and reduce reliance on infrastructure controlled by America’s strategic rivals.
For Cyprus, the most immediate benefit would be the ability to import electricity when needed and potentially export surplus power in the other direction.
That could improve the security of the island’s electricity supply and make it easier to use more renewable energy. Solar power produced during the day, for example, would no longer have to be used locally or wasted simply because the island has nowhere else to send it.
However, the project has faced questions over its cost, financing, and the possible burden on consumers. It has also been caught up in regional disputes over the route of seabed surveys.
The US lawmakers have asked for a classified briefing on the geopolitical obstacles affecting its completion, a sign that Washington’s interest goes beyond the technical details of laying a cable.
Their letter follows renewed momentum for the project after French investment group Meridiam agreed to become a majority stakeholder.
The congressional appeal is politically significant, but it should not be mistaken for a formal US promise of money or government participation. For now, it is a request from lawmakers for the State Department and the US development finance agency to give the project greater attention and support.
