Barrier to Renewable Energy Adoption: the Grid
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 08:59 — Dave Morse
New York Times "Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid’s Limits":
Wind advocates say that just two of the windiest states, North Dakota and South Dakota, could in principle generate half the nation’s electricity from turbines. But the way the national grid is configured, half the country would have to move to the Dakotas in order to use the power.
“We still have a third-world grid,” Mr. [NM Governor Bill] Richardson said, repeating a comment he has made several times. “With the federal government not investing, not setting good regulatory mechanisms, and basically taking a back seat on everything except drilling and fossil fuels, the grid has not been modernized, especially for wind energy.”