U.S.’s Biggest Renewable Project Is Under Way, Finally (The project has been in the works since 2006 and it was “fast-tracked” in 2011 by the Obama administration)

Sluggish timeline is problem for Biden administration as its seeks 100% clean electricity by 2035

By Scott Patterson of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"A wind and power transmission project, called the largest of its kind in the country, has raised $11 billion in financing, kicking off a year when many utilities are expected to step up much-needed spending on the power grid.

Pattern Energy Group has started construction on its SunZia project, a wind farm in central New Mexico, where more than 900 wind turbines will generate over 3,000 megawatts of clean energy. A 550-mile transmission line will bring the power to some three million people in Arizona and California. 

The problem: The project has been in the works since 2006, when Taylor Swift released her debut album. It was “fast-tracked” in 2011 by the Obama administration. 

Such a sluggish timeline could threaten President Biden’s ambition to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035. A Princeton University study found that if the U.S. continues to expand transmission at the 1% pace of the previous 10 years, that would result in more coal and natural-gas consumption than if Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act hadn’t passed. That is because the law creates incentives for more power consumption by electric vehicles and other clean-energy devices."

"Electricity demand is expected to grow a cumulative 4.7% over the next five years"

"The grid isn’t ready for that surge in demand, and current processes for expanding the grid aren’t either, experts said. State and federal red tape often delay large-scale infrastructure projects for years."

"The Energy Department is deploying billions of dollars to improve and expand transmission. In September it announced grants to tribes, territories and 11 states as part of a $2.3 billion program designed to strengthen the grid and make it more resilient to outages and extreme weather. The department’s Grid Deployment Office manages about $25 billion from the 2021 infrastructure legislation and the Inflation Reduction Act, according to department officials. 

The DOE funds, while helpful, are a drop in the bucket when it comes to the trillions of dollars it will take to upgrade and expand the grid."