Since US President Donald Trump’ s second term in the White House began in January 2025, he has been unequivocal about his disdain for wind energy, calling it the“ scam of the century” while issuing executive orders to prevent further projects and offering billion-dollar payouts to operators to cease construction of wind farms.
A test case for US infrastructure Whether SunZia becomes a template for future transmission builds remains an open question. Eighteen years from conception to completion is a long timeline, underlining how difficult permitting large interregional transmission lines can be in the US.
Pattern Energy now operates more than 40 facilities across North America with nearly 12,000MW of operating and inconstruction capacity. What’ s more, CEO Hunter Armistead says that the company has no intention of slowing down.
“ This project sets a new standard for what is possible – and we intend to keep building on it,” he says.
For an industry grappling with surging data centre demand and an ageing grid, SunZia offers a working example of what large scale transmission investment can achieve.
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