The Problem
While federal and state authorities have shown interest in speeding up the permitting process for energy projects, even in the best case scenario it will be months or years from the time a regulatory body announces a new project until a developer is selected and gets to work. But there isn't anything stopping opposition to the project from popping up and take root. Developers may have to wait for approvals and permits, but opponents can start to engage the minute they hear about a new project.
The impact
According to a study by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL), "local opposition, and not federal review, is the real obstacle, data shows. It caused a third of wind and solar interconnection application cancellations, and half of the delays lasting six months or more in the last five years."
Delays and cancellations cost money – that same LBNL study illustrated the millions of dollars in sunk costs lost when a project is cancelled. In one high profile fight over a clean energy transmission line in Maine, opponents forced a statewide vote on the project, and the campaign cost the two sides $100 million. A constitutional challenge after the vote probably added millions of dollars in legal fees and by the time the delayed project was restarted, supply chain issues and inflation had increased the cost to ratepayers by $500 million (a 33% increase).
But much more than money is at stake. According to a Princeton study "over 80% of the potential emissions reductions delivered by IRA are lost" if our electric grid keeps growing at its current rate. If we can get back to the traditional rate of growth of the grid – about 2.3% – the carbon reduction from the IRA will be realized.