"Green" energy — going nowhere
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two alternatives; the greens have already chosen one
It’s staying right where it’s generated, if it’s generated at all.
Block-by-block, state-by-state, efforts to build a new electrical grid sufficient to carry energy from the new planned hamster wheels to homes and factories are being thwarted by “environmentalists”. Here’s just one small example:
Efforts by The United Illuminating Co. to strengthen its transmission grid through Fairfield are being opposed by a group of residents in town who say the project would have a devastating impact on the community.
Members of the Sasco Creek Neighbors Environmental Trust have collected over 1,000 signatures opposing the project via an online petition. Plans for the project are currently being considered by the Connecticut Siting Council, whose job its to determine where utility infrastructure should be located.
Plans for the transmission project upgrade call for the high voltage wires currently located on top of the system used to electrify Metro North trains on the New Haven Line and relocate them onto 102 dedicated utility poles. The route is 7.3 miles through Fairfield to Congress Street in Bridgeport
Andrea Ozyck, a co-founder of the Sasco Creek Neighbors Environmental Trust, said the plan as currently proposed would be a threat to artifacts located beneath the surface of historic neighborhoods along the route and would also hurt property values.
"We don't think the route they have proposed is the best route," Ozyck said. "Our preferred approach is an underground approach. What they are doing us is the most expedient and cost-effective route they could find."
Shawn Crosbie, UI manager of projects unit for transmission lines in Connecticut, said using an underground route would extend the length of construction corridor by as much as three miles and add $745 million to the cost of the project, which is currently estimated at $255 million. Burying the transmission lines could also provide an environmental threat to wetlands along Sasco and Ash creeks in town, according to Crosbie.
UI officials explored other options for the transmission line upgrades, including burying it parallel to the rail line on Connecticut Department of Transportation property, he said.
"That plan is something that the Department of Transportation was opposed to," Crosbie said.
Ozyck said plans for the transmission line upgrade would require easements through the backyards of homes that date back to the 1800s. That could pose a threat to what she called "archeologically significant sites."
There will always be “archeologically significant sites”; “better (away from my view) routes”; “sacred Indian trails”; and “nesting plovers”; the point being that our laws and regulations allow local and national opponents to block and delay some infrastructure projects for decades, and kill the rest of them. “Net Zero” by 2050? Welcome to the darkness.
I posted on this topic just this past week.
….. Think about this in the context of a story I wrote in June about the TransWest Express transmission project, which had finally received its final permits from the federal government. This is a line that is about 1300 miles long, designed to carry electricity generated by Wyoming wind farms to customers on the West coast. The punch line on this single transmission project is that the permitting process took 17 years to achieve. Assuming no new litigation arises, it will now take about another 3 years to complete and place into service.
And this, from Politico:
Down to the wire: Biden's green goals face a power grid reckoning
President Joe Biden’s dream of a climate-friendly electric grid hangs on a slender wire: his administration’s ability to speed the construction of thousands of miles of power lines.
But he’ll have to contend with a major obstacle: Americans who hate seeing these kinds of projects anywhere near their backyards. Power companies’ efforts to build long-range transmission lines have failed repeatedly in recent decades, mired in legal and political fights from Maine to Arkansas, because of opposition from states and communities along the projects’ paths.
A quick search for “public opposition to power transmission lines” produces pages of links like these:
https://www.eenews.net › articles › northeast-transmission-fight-shows-bidens-renewable-dilemma
Northeast transmission fight shows Biden's renewable dilemma
Advertisement The battle has further pitted supporters Avangrid, Central Maine Power and prospective hydropower supplier Hydro-Québec against line opponents that include gas and nuclear operators...
The US Electricity Transmission System Is in Gridlock
Sep 18, 2023September 18, 2023 FOR MORE THAN a year, the utilities that own various parts of the Midwest's power grid have been advancing the largest investment in electricity transmission lines in US history: more than 2,000 miles of added transmission at an estimated cost of $10 billion. The 18 new lines promise a suite of advantages.
Public opposition to power lines threatens the energy transition
According to Entso-E, the European Network Of Transmission System Operators For Electricity, more than 46,000km of new high-voltage power lines are needed in Europe by 2030. But that is all a tall order when few transmission projects are built without strong local opposition. At the Grids Meet Renewables conference on Tuesday, which was jointly ...
In a Warning to National Infrastructure Plans, Maine Voters Reject ...
Nov 11, 2021The vote is a rejection of the New England Clean Energy Connect Project (NECEC)—a 145-mile, $1 billion 1,200 megawatt high-voltage transmission line—about $6.9 million per mile. The more renewable-energy capacity that gets added to the grid, the more transmission capacity must be built. The best wind, solar, and hydropower resources are in ...
https://www.nytimes.com › 2023 › 10 › 31 › climate › its-all-about-the-grid.html
It's All About the Grid - The New York Times
5 days agoThe story of the NECEC is emblematic of the broader problems bedeviling American electricity grids. The Biden administration announced plans Monday to spend $1.3 billion to help build power lines ...
https://www.nytimes.com › 2023 › 10 › 17 › climate › electric-grids-climate-iea.html
IEA Report Warns Electric Grid Delays Threaten Clean Energy Plans - The ...
Oct 17, 2023Oct. 17, 2023 Even as clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles spread rapidly across the globe, most countries are falling perilously behind in building the...
Power grid's future hinges on permitting and natural gas ... - POLITICO
Oct 26, 2023Power industry officials painted a bleak picture of the grid's ability to keep up with rising demand from electric vehicles, computing growth and the electrification of heavy industry. "Demand ...
Maine Voters' Rejection Of Transmission Line Shows Again How ... - Forbes
Nov 5, 2021 On Wednesday, Avangrid Inc., the parent company of Central Maine Power and NECEC Transmission LLC, filed a lawsuit in Maine state court challenging the referendum, alleging it violates "both...
Under the new rules, 35% of new cars must be zero emission by 2026, 68% by 2030, and 100% by 2035.
Get out your bicycles and tire pumps.
