This is what happens when the Government throws money at an (imaginary) problem with no actual plan
The U.S. Has Billions for Wind and Solar Projects. Good Luck Plugging Them In.
Plans to install 3,000 acres of solar panels in Kentucky and Virginia are delayed for years. Wind farms in Minnesota and North Dakota have been abruptly canceled. And programs to encourage Massachusetts and Maine residents to adopt solar power are faltering.
The energy transition poised for takeoff in the United States amid record investment in wind, solar and other low-carbon technologies is facing a serious obstacle: The volume of projects has overwhelmed the nation’s antiquated systems to connect new sources of electricity to homes and businesses.
So many projects are trying to squeeze through the approval process that delays can drag on for years, leaving some developers to throw up their hands and walk away.
BTW, who’s in charge of that approval process?
More than 8,100 energy projects — the vast majority of them wind, solar and batteries — were waiting for permission to connect to electric grids at the end of 2021, up from 5,600 the year before, jamming the system known as interconnection.
That’s the process by which electricity generated by wind turbines or solar arrays is added to the grid — the network of power lines and transformers that moves electricity from the spot where it is created to cities and factories. There is no single grid; the United States has dozens of electric networks, each overseen by a different authority.
It now takes roughly four years, on average, for developers to get approval, double the time it took a decade ago.
So, government is jamming the process to fix a problem they created?
And when companies finally get their projects reviewed, they often face another hurdle: The local grid is at capacity, and they are required to spend much more than they planned for new transmission lines and other upgrades.
There’s no planning, no understanding, just going after it willy nilly, so, it’s rather a waste of time and money. Surprise?
