Many politicians talk about “energy independence”—but we prefer the leaders who are actually working effectively to make it happen.

Studies of renewable energy use by the electric grid in Texas show a growing problem. Limitations of the current electric grid’s ability to collect and distribute power generated by wind and solar farms in Texas is increasing “curtailments” of that energy—times when the system can’t get to end-users all the clean power being produced.

That’s one facet of a problem likely to impact the value of critically important wind and solar development around the nation: the need for more transmission and battery storage to collect, store, and redistribute clean energy as produced and as needed. In fact, the need for grid enhancements to collect and distribute renewable energy is not limited to the United States.

Fortunately, the Biden-Harris Administration is already awarding and distributing funds to projects designed to improve the nation’s electric grid and deploy more clean energy. This past week, they announced $3.5 billion in project awards affecting 44 states (including North Carolina).

Links to details of the approved projects can be found in the article. For example, one project approved for $7 million in federal funding is for “upgrading electrical infrastructure for rural energy resilience.” The recipient is the Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation.

As usual, many politicians talk about “energy independence”—but we prefer the leaders who are actually working effectively to make it happen with clean, renewable energy.