Why It Takes So Long to Build New Energy Projects in the U.S. | WSJ

The green-energy transition ready for take off in the United States is facing a serious obstacle that’s not raw materials, labor or even money. It’s the permitting process.

900 wind turbines will soon cover a stretch of New Mexico desert, transforming it into the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere. The project, called SunZia Wind, took 17 years to receive a permit to start construction. So why were more than 10,000 energy projects like this waiting for permission to connect to electric grids at the end of 2022?

WSJ takes you inside the country’s soon-to-be largest wind farm to understand the regulatory gauntlet delaying clean energy for millions.

0:00 Permitting headaches
0:50 The federal permitting process
1:52 Permitting on the local and state level
3:08 Transmission lines
5:58 What’s next?

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