When the stakes are high, Americans take action. The nation is pouring resources into green energy for urgent reasons: combating climate change, lowering energy costs, boosting energy independence, and preparing for the decline of fossil fuels. In 2023 alone, the U.S. invested a staggering $239 billion in clean energy, marking a 38% jump from 2022.
However, these massive investments have created a significant challenge: a transmission lines backlog.
By 2024, the U.S. has reached nearly 1,300 million GW (GW) of generation capacity. But the queue for new power generation and energy storage projects waiting to connect to the grid has ballooned to almost 2,600 million GW by the end of 2023. That’s more than twice the capacity of the entire existing U.S. power plant fleet, with most of it coming from solar and battery projects. Imagine having to triple the grid’s capacity in just a few years. This interconnection queue has grown eight-fold over the last decade, but the pace of transmission grid expansion has slowed to about 1% per year.
This unprecedented backlog has serious consequences: green energy investors are losing money, climate change mitigation efforts are stalling, and consumers aren’t reaping the benefits of these advancements.
This calls for disruption of the status quo. And where there’s disruption, there’s an opportunity for startups and their investors.
KingsCrowd has spotlighted two startup-led solutions tackling the transmission backlog, offering investment opportunities as crucial as the problem they aim to solve.
Solution 1: Radically accelerating transmission lines construction
When it comes to improving the speed and cost-efficiency of transmission lines, one of the first questions is: How can we improve the current process and technology?
Elon Musk’s Prufrock, developed by The Boring Company, is making strides by increasing the speed of tunnel construction for transmission lines to up to 1 mile per week. Impressive, right? But there’s a company currently raising funds online that can do even better.
Enter EarthGrid. Its cutting-edge plasma technology can bore tunnels at an astonishing rate of up to 3.1 miles per week—three times faster than Prufrock’s technology. Not only that, but it’s also 100 times more efficient and 10 times cheaper than traditional methods.
EarthGrid isn’t just about utility projects; the company is making waves in the private sector too. Recently, it connected a data center to a solar farm independently, allowing both to start generating revenue without waiting years for municipalities to connect them to the grid.
EarthGrid’s founder, Troy Helming, a seasoned entrepreneur in the green energy space, is leading this innovative charge. With six successful startup exits, including two valued at over $1 billion, Helming brings the experience and vision needed to drive EarthGrid forward. It’s no wonder EarthGrid, a Top Deal currently raising on NetCapital, has the potential to ease the pressure on the grid significantly.
Solution 2: Bypassing the transmission lines
Believe it or not, it’s possible to connect new and small solar energy projects to the grid without relying on transmission lines.
Community solar operates differently—it connects to distribution lines, not transmission lines. Distribution lines carry electricity directly from substations to homes and businesses at lower voltages, making them ideal for the smaller, locally-focused scale of community solar projects. Unlike transmission lines, which carry high-voltage electricity over long distances from power plants to substations, distribution lines are perfectly suited for the community solar model.
This approach cleverly solves the transmission line backlog, enabling more customers to access affordable, clean solar energy without waiting for massive infrastructure upgrades.
In the growing community solar market, one company is making significant strides with the backing of equity crowdfunding investors: Neighborhood Sun. Neighborhood Sun, a Top Deal currently raising on Wefunder, has established itself as a leader in community solar, particularly in Maryland. The company has partnered with 136 community solar farms across seven states, holding a 30% market share in Maryland and 20% in Colorado. What’s more, it is saving customers 5-25% on their energy bills, proving that solar isn’t just about protecting the environment—it’s also about financial savings.
