As signs of climate change surface in Minnesota, policymakers and utilities are making a hard charge to transition to clean energy sources, but questions remain about whether the power grid will be ready.

Citing independent estimates, the U.S. Department of Energy said to meet demand for sources like wind and solar, the nation will need to expand transmission systems by 60% by 2030 and possibly triple them by 2050.

Amelia Cerling Hennes, managing director of the group Clean Energy Economy Minnesota, said the nation's current grid system is old, and was not designed for the newer approach to powering up cars, homes and businesses.

"As more of us convert to electric vehicles, and getting off of our natural gas-powered appliances at home; as we're electrifying things, we're going to need more electricity," Cerling Hennes pointed out. "The current system is just not going to cut it."

There has been promising news, such as the Midcontinent Independent System Operator last year approving $10 billion in projects to integrate more renewable energy. But Hennes warned completing a new transmission line can take up to a decade, and said there should be more urgency in permitting projects, without minimizing public input.

The process is playing out with a proposed transmission line project by Xcel Energy in parts of western Minnesota.

Molly Malone, manager of Minnesota community affairs for the renewable energy developer Invenergy, said they are putting together a wind project which would connect to Xcel's planned line.

"We're not only doing it because of the strong wind resource in the area, but also because there is transmission expansion happening," Malone pointed out. "That transmission expansion is critical to the development of our wind project. They go hand-in-hand."

Not only is grid space a deciding factor, but developers also have to navigate the many layers of approval, including regulators, local governments and buy-in from community members. Hennes noted not getting them all on the same page will make it harder to meet the state's zero-carbon energy goals.

"If we're going to have 100% clean energy by 2040, which is 17 years away, the window of time is pretty short," Hennes cautioned.

This spring, Minnesota lawmakers addressed certain permitting issues, but Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged efficiencies still need to be addressed next session. Around the U.S., the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said it takes five years for the average project to be completed.

A proposed corn-starch-to-jet-fuel plant in South Dakota is on track to get big federal funding, but its feasibility could hinge on election results.

The proposed Lake Preston facility, dubbed Net-Zero 1 by the company Gevo, is set to receive a conditional loan of nearly $1.5 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy.

This comes just before Election Day, when voters will decide on Referred Law 21 - which will determine the future of carbon dioxide transmission pipelines in the state - and which Andrew Swanson, postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis, said projects like Net-Zero 1 would rely on.

"They can capture carbon dioxide that's naturally produced from distilling corn into ethanol, put it in a pipeline and send it underground," said Swanson. "And by doing that, that would dramatically reduce the emissions of ethanol."

Those reductions would get companies below federally-set emissions thresholds, triggering high tax credits in return.

Recent campaign finance reports show ethanol producers have contributed $2.7 million in support of the ballot measure, according to reporting from South Dakota Searchlight.

Opponents of the measure, mostly individuals and farm and ranch corporations, have raised just under $250,000.

Net-Zero 1 would support the Biden administration's goal of producing 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in the U.S. by 2030.

The world's first ethanol-to-jet-fuel plant opened in Georgia earlier this year and will produce 10 million gallons of fuel per year. Swanson said the industry is still brand new.

"The federal government wants to increase the production by 100-200 fold within six years," said Swanson. "Now, we're kind of just waiting on the edge of our seats a little bit to see what they're going to decide with the carbon pipeline."

According to the Department of Energy, Net-Zero 1 would also make more than 1 billion pounds of animal feed protein and 30 million pounds of corn oil annually, and would create 100 operations jobs.



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Ahead of tomorrow's presidential election, a nonprofit is raising concerns Project 2025 and its proposed rollback of federal aid could disrupt economic growth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $15 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for more than 450 projects.

David Kieve, president of EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the Inflation Reduction Act has made Pennsylvania cleaner and greener, and is boosting the Lehigh Valley economy.

"They're incentivizing and attracting private sector investment to communities like the Lehigh Valley," Kieve pointed out. "Mack Trucks has received $208 million in IRA funding, which is going to create nearly 300 union jobs."

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has allocated $11.1 billion for transportation, including roads, bridges, public transit, ports, and airports and $859 million for water infrastructure.

Kieve pointed out many people would feel the effects of Project 2025, including more than 200,000 in Lehigh Valley's Hispanic community. The proposed cuts could result in lost jobs and investments from recent federal legislation.

"These are communities that have sort of had fallen on hard times because of President Trump's spectacular mishandling of the COVID pandemic, but that are digging out and that are recovering," Kieve noted. "Project 2025 and the Donald Trump agenda would pull the rug right out from under those communities."

Pennsylvania is set to receive around $172 million over five years from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand electric vehicle charging. Allentown, within the Lehigh Valley, has 122 public charging ports, most of which are Level 2, which are more powerful than home units and charge vehicles more quickly. Some offer free charging.

Arizona is ground zero for the 2024 election, but also sits on the front lines of the climate crisis, as the state has seen another year of record-breaking temperatures. One organization says the two issues go hand in hand.

Chispa Arizona executive director Vianey Olivarría said many state and local races in Arizona will have direct impacts on how state leaders not only manage environmental challenges, but also preserve democracy. She contended that Arizona isn't taking full advantage of the natural resources at its disposal.

"When we talk about clean energy, democracy and the future of Arizona, that's what we are talking about," she said. "It's a future where this heat is going to get worse, the pollution is going to get worse - that means that our ability to survive will highly depend on our ability to produce electricity."

She added that voters will get to choose candidates vying for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has significant power over the state's energy decisions. Olivarría contended that the commission's current members have been voting against the interest of ratepayers and the environment, and siding with utilities.

The commission has said it strives to deliver reliable, cost-effective energy. But just last month, the conservative-leaning commission approved two gas-powered plants.

While the Corporation Commission is supposed to play a significant role in fighting climate change, Olivarría said state legislative races can also make a difference.

"And that is a space that for a long time has become a very 'right-wing' space," she said. "There have been bills in the state Legislature that would take climate change out of our education systems, out of public schools - just talking about it, acknowledging it."

Olivarría said she wants lawmakers to visit the communities disproportionately affected by the urban heat island effect, in which the built environment and a lack of tree canopy makes them more vulnerable to hot weather. Since time is running short before Nov. 5, she reminded folks to vote in person on Election Day, or take their mail-in ballot to a secure dropbox or polling location.