The truth is it’s a bigger joke than investment.
The investment of $3.5 billion will fund 58 projects across 44 states, meaning the paltry sum of $3.5 billion will be diluted across a multitude of projects and rendered even less effective. Yes, the investment will be made less of a joke with the state and local matching funds which will bring the total investment to $8 billion. And to be fair, there is also a total of $10.5 billion available from the IRA.
Big whoop.
The Obama administration was no more committed to actually solving the problem as it allocated only $3.4 billion.
I know, anything with billions sounds like a great deal of money, but the task at hand is enormous and that level of funding won’t even prevent the situation from getting worse.
Why is the investment a joke?
The U.S. grid consists of 5.7 million miles of transmission and distribution lines and more than 55,000 substations, many of which will need to be upgraded to accommodate additional renewable energy projects.
Said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm: [the grid] “is not equipped to handle all the new demand. We do need it to be bigger, we need it to be stronger, we need it to be smarter to bring all of these new projects online and to meet the president’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035.”
By the way: on top of all the upgrades that are needed BloombergNEF estimates that we will need to increase the grid’s capacity from 8.5 terawatts today to 39.7 terawatts by 2050 to handle the transition to an all-electric society.
My question to Secretary Granholm as you beat your collective chests in triumph: do you think $3.5 billion is going to get that done?
