--- title: America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition description: “People don't realize how fragile the grid is." canonical: https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-15T17:02:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:18:18.318Z article:section: Climate og:title: America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition og:description: “People don't realize how fragile the grid is." og:url: https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd04de8093766bc64/698a54d79d83e886f7b99df8/electric-grid-transmission.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Transmission lines exit the plant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition twitter:description: “People don't realize how fragile the grid is." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd04de8093766bc64/698a54d79d83e886f7b99df8/electric-grid-transmission.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1e9b256-f94c-4a2e-84fc-4d9717641074&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Friday (1x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Justin Worland, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Senior leaders shaping the climate transition. An engaged audience of executives and decision-makers spanning operating companies, finance, policy, consulting, communications and media. ### TIME Future Proof: key statements * Future Proof is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Future Proof is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1e9b256-f94c-4a2e-84fc-4d9717641074&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/subscribe?i=a1e9b256-f94c-4a2e-84fc-4d9717641074&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's climate and energy newsletter? Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=a1e9b256-f94c-4a2e-84fc-4d9717641074&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 15, 2024 5:02 PM UTC  Transmission lines exit the plant at Pacific Gas and Electric's Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the only operating nuclear powered plant in California. Transmission lines exit the plant at Pacific Gas and Electric's Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the only operating nuclear powered plant in California. Los Angeles Times—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 15, 2024 5:02 PM UTC (_To get this story in your inbox, subscribe to the TIME CO2 Leadership Report newsletter_ [_here_](https://www.time.com/co2-newsletter)_._) Michael Polsky, the founder and CEO of renewable energy developer Invenergy, has earned a reputation as a renewable energy pioneer. His company, founded in 2001, has more than 200 clean energy projects across the world completed or in progress. When we [spoke this week](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql2w1GqM6Lg) at this year’s Aspen Ideas: Climate conference, he could have taken a bit of a victory lap. But instead he was eager to deliver a warning: without a concerted effort to fix its electric grid the U.S. may soon face electric reliability issues, not to mention challenges meeting its climate goals. “People don't realize how fragile the grid is,” he said. Polsky is far from alone. In the year and a half since the passage of the climate-focused [Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)](https://time.com/6304143/inflation-reduction-act-us-global-impact/), energy experts have called for regulatory reforms to help fix the grid—think of expediting permits for transmission lines that deliver electricity from power plants to cities and speeding up the process of connecting new power plants to the grid. A 2022 Princeton University [report](https://repeatproject.org/docs/REPEAT%5FIRA%5FTransmission%5F2022-09-22.pdf) found that more than 80% of the IRA’s emissions reductions could be lost if transmission expansion doesn’t pick up beyond its recent rate of about 1% annually. Recent warnings that we need to get the electric grid in order have grown even more dire as a variety of factors have coalesced. To start, the grid has suffered from under-investment for decades and improvements can be hard to permit. At the same time, demand for electricity is growing much faster than expected, in large part driven by data centers and growing electrification of the economy (think of everything from EVs to stoves). Wind and solar energy have created additional challenges. After all, solar only generates power when the sun is shining and turbines only spin when the wind is blowing. All of this adds up to an urgent picture: the integrity of the entire system is at stake, meaning that it may grow more difficult to keep the lights on consistently. A December [report](https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Reliability%20Assessments%20DL/NERC%5FLTRA%5F2023.pdf) from North American Electric Reliability Corporation warned that huge swathes of the country face elevated or high risk of inadequate electric generation capacity. **Read more:** [_How Our Electric Grids are Blocking a Climate Revolution_](https://time.com/6900079/electric-grids-climate-revolution/) Writing about energy and climate change over the past decade, I’ve encountered many climate people who try to avoid talking about challenges with the grid out of fear that doing so might feed into a narrative that renewables aren’t reliable. Others have wanted to avoid the thorny issue of building new infrastructure in people’s backyards and the messy debate about permitting reform. With the grid’s looming issues, it may be time to change that thinking. A reliable grid is important in its own right. The grid not only keeps our economy running but also protects our health and well-being. There are climate effects, too. Polsky argues that an unreliable grid—driven by a wide variety of factors—could lead to a “backlash” from the public. “My fear is that we have a major issue with the grid and then \[people\] start finding a scapegoat,” he told me. “What is the scapegoat? Renewables.” The solution, if it weren’t clear already, is relatively simple: invest in the grid. To do that, though, will require a combination of private sector investment and support from government and regulators. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/"},"headline":"America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition","datePublished":"2024-03-15T17:02:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:18:18.318Z","description":"“People don't realize how fragile the grid is.\"","url":"https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/","keywords":["Leadership Report","climate change","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd04de8093766bc64/698a54d79d83e886f7b99df8/electric-grid-transmission.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd04de8093766bc64/698a54d79d83e886f7b99df8/electric-grid-transmission.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Transmission lines exit the plant","caption":"Transmission lines exit the plant","creditText":"Los Angeles Times—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/co2-leadership-report/","name":"Leadership Report"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6957384/america-grid-green-transition/","name":"America's Grid Isn't Ready for the Green Transition"}}]}] ```