It won’t come as much surprise but Americans are using more energy than ever before. Yankton Johnson, CEO for Moon Lake Electric, presented to the Vernal Chamber and Vernal Rotary Club on Tuesday sharing uncomfortable facts for what is to come if net zero goals continue to be pushed. The grid is continuously pressed for more energy while at the same time coal fired power is being shut down and its replacements cannot keep up. “I’m not anti solar, I’m a realist,” stated Johnson. “We have to understand that this is not going to work. It is unrealistic and if we are not careful and not logical about this it is going to push us to black outs and brown outs.” Johnson said he has lived in those conditions in other parts of the world and it is not something we want. “Not only is going net zero by 2050 not realistic,” continued Johnson, “but statistics show that 60 percent of our transmission lines would have to be tripled in size to do that.” Well what’s the big deal? Just get to work doing it, right? Wrong. Johnson said the best estimates out there show that it would take 282 years to accomplish, rendering net zero goals impossible. Moon Lake Electric continues to diversify its energy portfolio and currently serves customers over 7,337 square miles with 41 substations and 4,068 miles of line.
