Outdated Power Grid Blowing Wind Energy Hopes: Experts

The nation's outdated and congested power grid is putting a damper on plans to expand renewable energy programs, the New York Times reports. Generating power from the wind and sun is becoming easier—but getting the power to consumers who live far from the country's windiest and sunniest places remains a problem.

Experts say underinvestment and political snarls have left the country without a power grid that can handle its needs, and call for the creation of an "interstate transmission superhighway system." Wind power could meet a fifth of the nation's energy needs with the proper investment, advocates say, noting that North and South Dakota alone could supply half the nation's power—if half the population moved to the Dakotas.
(More wind farm stories.)