ClimateWire: A group of Pacific Northwest and California power companies has joined utilities from the Southeast and other regions to oppose widespread cost-sharing for transmission expansion to carry wind and solar power to distant markets. A letter from 14 power companies and organizations in the Northwest, sent Feb. 19 to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), calls for developers and customers of new renewable power to pay for …