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Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy released a plan to get big electric transmission lines built in 10 strategic parts of the country. Which may sound a bit dull and technical—but the slow pace of power line construction has become perhaps the biggest roadblock to running the U.S. on 100% clean electricity. If the new plan becomes reality, the country could much more quickly build the infrastructure to bring abundant wind power from Kansas to the east, enable New York City and the surrounding area to take advantage of major offshore wind farms, and much more. Canary Media Inc. has some good reporting on the new plan, meant to unlock both large federal loans and a fast-track for approving transmission lines with the federal government, instead of with overlapping sets of state and local regulators. (See their story here: https://lnkd.in/dTyk5wZm) But for some useful background on why transmission has been such a challenge, and why clean energy advocates are looking specifically at the long waits to get new power lines approved, it might be helpful to check out our podcast episode, "Why does it take five years to build a wind farm?" featuring Dr. John Parsons of MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT - Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. "The construction [of a wind farm] takes about 18 months," Dr. Parsons told us. "But before those 18 months are several years of getting your permits, developing your relationships with the region, and so on. For wind farms, I'd say you're talking minimum five years... Transmission lines are another order of magnitude. I mean, it can be for some transmission lines decades." And this long process of approving new power lines takes place in an environment where we're trying to add huge amounts of new wind and solar electricity, many from power stations where wind and sun is abundant but the electricity must travel a very long way to reach the cities and population centers that need new clean energy the most. #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #transmission #permitting #climatechange https://lnkd.in/eHZnpWGu

S5E8: Why does it take five years to build a wind farm?

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