By: Mark Glennon*
Electricity generation from wind energy actually dropped six percent last year in Illinois, putting the state still further behind on its goals for renewable energy production. What caused that? Climate change itself, we are supposed to believe, played a part.
That’s the claim made in a recent Chicago Sun-Times news column headlined, “Will climate change suck the air out of Illinois’ wind power industry?” It was written by authors from Inside Climate News, which also published the column.
It was less windy in 2023 in Illinois, the article tells us, and that was because of big Canadian forest fires last year. And it blames climate change, of course, for forest fires.
The problem with the column isn’t just the shakiness of that theory. Instead, it’s that the column makes no mention at all of the vastly bigger reasons why wind energy is floundering in Illinois. That omission hides the bigger failures..
The 800-pound gorilla squashing wind energy production is the connection problem we explained here.
In a monumental blunder, the federal government and states like Illinois are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build renewable energy sources, but they forgot the cost and difficulty of hooking those projects to the grid. Wind turbine projects simply aren’t in places served by most existing transmission lines.
That problem is recognized by both parties in Congress. None other than Sean Casten (D-Illinois), a leading supporter of the initial subsidies, now admits to how grave the problem is, saying that “80% of the clean energy progress we made with the Inflation Reduction Act will be lost unless we reform transmission and permitting.”
But efforts to fix the interconnection problem have stalled in Congress because the problem is so complex and cost so high. A fix might well cost trillions of dollar nationally (yes, trillions) and some argue the problem simply too complex to solve in any reasonable time frame.
The problem has been ignored by most Illinois media, other than in a recent Chicago Tribune column. The Tribune referenced a report based on a survey of 123 wind and solar developers nationwide finding that the grid-connection process was the top cause of delays of six months or more. The article quotes an industry representative saying, “(Grid-connection) has become the leading barrier to new power plants coming online and new renewables being deployed,”
The same study found that the grid connection problem is followed by local ordinances and zoning, community opposition and supply chain issues. Much of that is actually part of the connection problem, which renewable energy supporters in government have been trying unsuccessfully to bulldoze through. Local opposition is often intense, and many counties around the nation are blocking new projects, as reported in detail here. Illinois, however, reacted by prohibiting counties from doing so.
Another part of the problem is impediments created by the “equity” requirements now built into Illinois energy law for hiring and worker training. That problem was reported last year by Inside Climate News itself, but ignored entirely in its new column in the Sun-Times. From last year’s column about Illinois:
A lag in training, though, has fueled a backup that operators of solar and other renewable energy businesses say is holding back their projects.
One big reason: Renewable energy companies have diversity requirements under the law and are expected to hire from the state-sponsored workforce programs — which aren’t yet in place.
“The slow rollout of job-training programs has led to some growing pains,” said Lesley McCain, executive director of Illinois Solar Energy and Storage Association. “While these programs require significant time and resources to launch, these vital programs are not yet producing the results the bill was intended to help. We’re hopeful that these programs will come online soon.”
Contractors, advocates and others called out Pritzker late last year for dragging his feet on workforce development.
Getting back to the basic premise of the article, that low wind was caused by forest fires caused by climate change, is extremely questionable, to say the least. Other reports blame El Niño for slow winds last year. And blaming forest fires is contradicted by another point made in the article, which is that last year was the third time in the last eight years that a reduction in wind speeds led to a drop in Illinois’ wind energy generation.
Many experts say there’s no evidence that climate change is causing more forest fires. For example, Bjorn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus and visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “The data are unequivocal: Since the early 2000s, when 3% of the world’s land caught fire, the area burned annually has trended downward. In 2022, the last year for which there are complete data, the world hit a record low of 2.2% burned area.”
Regardless, it’s not climate change or a year of low wind that’s “sucking the air out of Illinois’ wind power industry,” as the Sun-Times headline postulated. The state’s expectations for renewables were doomed from the start.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Earlier Wirepoints columns on this subject:
Illinois education officials continuously claim there’s a teacher shortage across the state. Yet data from the state’s own Illinois Report Card shows that hiring at schools has been booming over the last 25 years, especially when you consider that student enrollment has been shrinking at the same time.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the failures of Mayor Johnson’s first year in office, what Chicago’s future looks like, why so many CPS teachers are chronically absent, the details of Gov. Pritzker’s $827 million giveaway to Rivian, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 5/12/2024.
Climate change…….total BS……just like J Kerry…..and his airplanes…….just sayin’
Talk about in-your-face hypocrites … Kerry takes first prize. Along with the rest of the Davos globalists.
The US should seriously consider pulling out of the UN and any agreements with the globalist crowd; like the agreement with WHO.
These people do not have the best interest of our country in mind, but, then again, neither does the ruling class in our country.
lack of wind???? that’s hysterical. I literally play golf every day, winter included. Trust me, wind has been blowing plenty. More “lack” of wind would be nice for fellow golfers. I call b.s.
Each individual windmill has to synchronize to the base load phase prior to being connected. After connection it’s phase must be continually adjusted if the wind changes. Clamping a hot windmill to base load without synch can cause a dead short, or a doubling surge or anyplace in between depending on the phase imbalance when you pull the switch. This is why wind energy can never exist without a very strong reliable base phase. Multiply this times multiple windmills.
Basic relays, synchronous, phase failure,
Phase imbalance will do the trick.
When used in the switchgear no problems.
A very good relay company is near St. Louis in Illinois
I’m all for being a good citizen of planet Earth, but unlike the progressive lefty loonies, I don’t think for a minute we can impact the climate to any significant degree. It’s one crazy thing after another, and the landfills will overflow with the remnants of their bad ideas. I’m getting sick and tired of having their idiotic mandates thrust upon the masses. I’ll get on board when Pritzker trades in his personal jet for an electric plane.
States are competing furiously to for data center biz. Indiana, for example, just announced Amazon $11 bil data center project outside South Bend and Google $2 bil data center in Fort Wayne. All of which demand massive amounts of reliable power. And wind & solar just aren’t going to cut it. Indiana is not so quick to phase out it’s coal plants.
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/25/amazon-aws-indiana-data-center-planned-investment/640d9b84-0307-11ef-8eac-39c6dcb59eb5_story.html)
Every day I pass a house with solar panels on the roof ,that makes me laugh, because the panels are facing north . A complete fail.
Soon they will be pushing Lunar panels. Full power with a full moon but not so much with a crescent moon. LOL
Remember Obama’s Solyndra? No different here, except that Pritzker and Democrats forced electric rates up with direct fee’s and mandates on the utility. So IL has the worst of both – less energy and higher costs. Pritzker and Democrats are an economic menace.
Illinois government simply fails at absolutely everything. As if that wasn’t bad enough, their solution to failure is to double down and spend even more money. Biggest example is the public schools, but just watch, it will happen with energy as well.
FYI: Can I ask a serious question? Why do you even bother reading WP if you continue to live there year after year? Myself, and I’m sure other former Illinois residents that repeatly tell you
…tell you that life is so much better in places like Indiana or Tennessee, simply don’t see the logic.
Why do you?
Wp at least attempts to get to the truth
As apposed to the rags of old which no
Longer matter.
It is a light trying to burn through the glomin of lies.
Totally agree.
Why do I read WP? That’s easy. I get a sense of satisfaction knowing that I made the right decision to leave. You guys at WP provide me a lot of “I told you so” moments when talking to those I left behind.
Fair enough, Former. That means you should be good for a really big donation: https://wirepoints.org/donate/
Nicely played, Mark.
We left because we saw no hope of change. Despite WP best efforts and good intentions, you’re preaching to the choir, not the ones who need to change. So, not to be nasty, giving money to WP won’t change a thing.