The State of Technology & Culture: Energy

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 1 The State of Technology & Culture: Anticipated Release: Q3 2026 Energy

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 2 CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 2 JANTA POWER TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 Introduction 04 01. The Evolution of the U.S. Energy System 30 04. Where Opportunities Exist 14 02. Why Now: Electricity Demand is Accelerating 21 03. Energy Transition Constraints • Energy Abundance and Economic Growth • From Combustion to Electriﬁcation • How the U.S. Energy Mix Has Shifted • Critical Minerals, Recycling and Domestic Supply Chains • Firm, Dispatchable and Distributed Power • Grid Infrastructure, Storage and Energy Orchestration • Data Center Power, Intelligence and Infrastructure Resilience • Automation, Robotics and Infrastructure Picks-and-Shovels • Sustainable Industrial Transportation at Diesel Parity • AI & Data Centers • Falling Cost Curves • Eﬀiciency & Useful Energy • Resource Nationalism and the Geopolitics of Mining and Reﬁning • Grid Congestion and the Interconnection Backlog • Permitting, NIMBYism and the Politics of the Buildout • Transportation • U.S. Industrial Reshoring & Manufacturing • Climate & Policy Pressure • Storage Duration and the Complexity of Renewable Dispatch • Labor Shortages 37 05. Conclusion

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 3 INTRODUCTION Energy Deﬁnes What’s Possible MaC Venture Capital (MaC VC) is a seed-stage ﬁrm that invests in emerging sectors and the cultural and technological shifts shaping the future: how behavior changes, how regulation follows, and what technology makes possible. Periodically, we publish Culture Shifts, a list of the trends we see moving global popular culture. Each one marks an area where we believe the biggest opportunities for growth, innovation, and investment will emerge in the years ahead. In our latest installment of the State of Technology and Culture Report, we explore the energy sector where we have invested $35.3M in 12 companies. Our interest is driven by the belief that the next generation of economic and technological progress will depend on whether the physical energy system can support it. Energy has always shaped the boundaries of what society can build. Since humans ﬁrst mastered ﬁre, every major leap in civilization has followed a new way to harness, convert, or distribute power. Wood and biomass supported early settlement and small-scale industry. Coal powered factories, steel production, railroads, and industrial cities. Oil unlocked mass mobility, aviation, global logistics, and petrochemicals. Electricity became the foundation of modern homes, healthcare systems, communications networks, manufacturing facilities, and digital infrastructure. In the United States, each expansion of the energy system increased the amount of power available and also the range of economic and technological possibilities available to society. This report examines the forces reshaping the energy system, the constraints that may slow its development, and the opportunities emerging for founders and investors. The energy transition is often discussed primarily as a shift toward cleaner sources of generation. While decarbonization remains important, the transition is also increasingly being driven by a broader economic imperative to deliver electricity through a system that is more reliable, ﬂexible, aﬀordable, and capable of supporting the next era of industrial and technological growth. Energy has always shaped the boundaries of what society can build. $35.3M across 12 energy companies in the energy sector MaC VC has invested 3 BLOCPOWER

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 4 CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 4 SECTION 1 America’s energy system has been repeatedly reshaped by new technologies, sources of supply, and patterns of demand. From combustion and electriﬁcation to the rise of oil, gas, nuclear, and renewables, each transition expanded what the economy could support. Understanding that evolution helps explain the system we have today—and the forces shaping what comes next. The Evolution of the U.S. Energy System 01.1 01.2 01.3 Energy Abundance and Economic Growth From Combustion to Electriﬁcation How the U.S. Energy Mix Has Shifted

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 5 01.1 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM Energy Abundance and Economic Growth Reliable and aﬀordable electricity is one of the core inputs that makes prosperity possible. U.S. electricity consumption has grown roughly 14x since 1950 to 2025 (source), and commercial and industrial users accounted for more than 62% of U.S. retail electricity sales in 2025 (source), underscoring electricity’s role as a foundational input for economic activity. This pattern is also evident in the connection between electricity use and economic output. There is eﬀectively no such thing as a low-energy, high-income country. The relationship between energy availability and economic development remains visible across the modern global economy. 14x 62% + U.S. electricity consumption has grown roughly 14x since 1950 to 2025. Source: EIA, 2026 Commercial and industrial users accounted for more than 62% of U.S. retail electricty sales in 2025. Source: EIA, 2026 5

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 6 01.1 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM Wealthy economies, including the United States, sit in the upper-right portion of the chart to the right, combining high levels of per-capita electricity generation with high levels of income. The poorest economies remain concentrated in the lower-left, where both electricity availability and income are limited. High-income countries generate approximately 44x more electricity per person than low-income countries, while their GDP per capita is roughly 26x higher. The data suggests that energy consumption reinforces that sustained economic development requires access to substantial amounts of dependable power.

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 7 01.2 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM From Combustion to Electriﬁcation For much of human history, useful energy came directly from combustion. People burned wood, coal, oil, and gas to create heat, motion, and mechanical power. By the late nineteenth century (source), however, primary energy sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas increasingly began to be converted into electricity. Over the following centuries, electricity became a common input across homes, manufacturing, transportation, communications, and eventually computing. Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Station was an early proof point for this model. In 1882, it became the ﬁrst commercial central power station and began supplying customers in Manhattan, proving that centralized generation and distribution could work commercially (source). But the early system was limited by direct current, which could only travel short distances. The adoption of alternating current, championed by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, changed the economics of power distribution because electricity could be transmitted over longer distances (source). That breakthrough allowed power plants to serve entire regions rather than individual neighborhoods. While energy has always powered economic progress, the way that energy is generated and consumed has evolved considerably. That breakthrough changed the economics of power distribution 7

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 8 01.2 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM By the early twentieth century, electricity had moved from a technical experiment to a commercially operating infrastructure system. By 1930, roughly seven in ten American homes were wired for electricity, and nearly nine in ten urban and nonfarm rural homes had access. (source) The Rural Electriﬁcation Administration, established in 1935 and made permanent by the Rural Electriﬁcation Act of 1936, helped close that gap for rural homes (source). With these advancements, the U.S. grid had become one of the country’s most important pieces of economic infrastructure. 8 1936 Rural Electriﬁcation Act made the REA permanent 1935 Rural Electriﬁcation Administration established ~ 90% urban and nonfarm rural homes had access ~ 70% American homes were wired for electricity

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 9 01.3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM How the U.S. Energy Mix Has Shifted The United States is the world’s largest producer of both crude oil and natural gas, and fossil fuels still accounted for approximately 82% of U.S. primary energy consumption in 2025 (source). Natural gas has been the country’s largest source of domestic energy production since 2011, while petroleum remains the most-consumed energy source and is deeply embedded across transportation, industry, and the broader economy. Reports commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute have estimated that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry supports approximately 8% of U.S. GDP, as of their latest report published in 2021 (source). The U.S. energy system remains heavily anchored in fossil fuels, even as the sources of growth within the energy mix have begun to change. U.S. PRIMARY ENERGY PRODUCTION BY SOURCE (Quadrillion British Thermal Units) Note: The chart represents energy production across multiple sources, including the extraction of fossil fuels and the generation of electricity from renewable and nuclear sources. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, March 2026 # 1 Petroleum remains the most-consumed source of energy in the U.S. # 1 Natural gas has been the largest source of U.S. energy production since 2011 82% of U.S. primary energy consumption were fossil fuels in 2025

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 10 01.3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM Beginning around 1950, oil separated sharply from coal as the country’s dominant energy source, driven by rising automobile ownership, commercial aviation, freight transportation, suburban development, and petrochemical manufacturing. U.S. oil production later peaked in the early 1970s before entering a prolonged decline, and the oil crises of that decade exposed the country’s reliance on foreign producers while strengthening incentives for domestic production, fuel eﬀiciency, nuclear development, and alternative sources of energy. The current mix is the product of several major shifts over the past 75 years. U.S. PRIMARY ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY SOURCE (Quadrillion British Thermal Units) ~1950 OIL OVERTAKES COAL America’s dominant energy source shifts as automobiles, aviation and freight reshape demand. EARLY 1970s U.S. OIL PRODUCTION PEAKS Domestic production enters a prolonged decline. 1970s ENERGY SECURITY BECOMES STRATEGIC Oil shocks expose reliance on foreign producers — accelerating eﬀiciency, nuclear and alternative energy.

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 11 11 01.3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM The next major inﬂection came with the expansion of nuclear power during the 1970s and 1980s, as utilities built large reactors to meet rising electricity demand and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. That buildout slowed considerably during the 1990s as construction costs increased, project timelines lengthened, electricity markets changed, and regulatory and political barriers became more pronounced. Nuclear has remained an important source of reliable, low- carbon electricity, but the United States has added relatively little new nuclear capacity over the past several decades. Utilities built large reactors to meet rising electricity demand and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 12 01.3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM Beginning in the mid-2000s, the shale revolution reshaped the mix again. Advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing dramatically increased domestic oil and natural gas production and lowered the cost of gas. Natural gas plants also became increasingly attractive to utilities because they could be built more quickly, operate more ﬂexibly, and emit less carbon dioxide and conventional air pollution than coal plants. As a result, natural gas displaced a signiﬁcant share of coal within the U.S. electricity system. More recently, the growth story has shifted toward renewables. From 2015 to 2025, U.S. renewable energy consumption increased by nearly 29%, while fossil-fuel consumption remained essentially ﬂat, rising approximately 0.15% over the same period (source). Falling equipment costs, improving technology, tax incentives, state procurement requirements, and corporate demand have accelerated the deployment of wind and solar even as fossil fuels continue to dominate the overall system. 12 From 2015 to 2025, U.S. renewable energy consumption increased by nearly 29% Fossil-fuel consumption remained essentially ﬂat over the same period 29% 0.15%

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 13 01.3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE U.S. ENERGY SYSTEM This shift matters because most renewable energy generation enters the economy as electric power. As transportation, heating, manufacturing, and computing become more electriﬁed, the grid is becoming the common platform through which a growing share of economic activity is happening. Electriﬁcation allows these systems to draw from a more diverse and lower-emissions mix of generation sources rather than remaining tied to direct fossil-fuel combustion. At the same time, decades of infrastructure investment, established supply chains, and long-lived assets have created an enormous physical base around fossil fuels. As a result, the energy transition will depend on expanding and upgrading the infrastructure required to move, store, and reliably deliver electricity across a much more electriﬁed economy. 13 POWERING INDUSTRY Electriﬁcation of Everything BUILDING THE FUTURE Smart Buildings and Cities ENABLING DIGITAL GROWTH Data Centers and AI STRENGTHENING THE GRID Resilience, Flexibility and Security TRANSFORMING MOBILITY EVs Drive New Demand

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 14 CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 14 SECTION 2 While these renewable sources are not yet dominant from a generation and consumption standpoint today, their growth reﬂects a broader transformation of the energy system. The economy is moving toward electricity at the same time that electricity demand itself is beginning to accelerate. Six forces are pushing more economic activity onto the grid. Why Now: Electricity Demand Is Accelerating 02.1 02.2 02.3 02.4 02.5 02.6 AI & Data Centers Falling Cost Curves Eﬀiciency & Useful Energy Transportation U.S. Industrial Reshoring & Manufacturing Climate & Policy Pressure

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 15 ~480 TWh 176 TWh 02.1 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING AI & Data Centers U.S. data centers consumed roughly 176 TWh of electricity in 2023, or 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use, and Berkeley Lab now estimates they could account for up to 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2028 as AI workloads scale. (source) AI is turning electricity into a direct input for digital production. For the ﬁrst time, a major new source of electricity demand is being driven by computation itself. U.S. DATA CENTER ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION TWh (Terawatt-hours) and % of total U.S. electricity use of total U.S. electricity use of total U.S. electricity use (estimated) 2023 2028 4.4% 13% increase by 2028 ~2.7x

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 16 02.2 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING Falling Cost Curves In 2024, 91% of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable capacity produced electricity at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil-fuel alternative, while battery storage costs had fallen 93% since 2010. As the cost of generating and storing electricity declines, electrifying end uses becomes increasingly economical on its own merits. (source) Solar, wind, batteries, and power electronics have become dramatically more cost competitive. 16 of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable capacity produced electricity at a lower cost since 2024 Since 2010 battery storage costs had fallen 91% 93%

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 17 02.3 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING Eﬀiciency & Useful Energy A typical EV converts roughly 87%–91% of the energy stored in its battery into useful vehicle movement, compared with about 30% for a gasoline vehicle; similarly, an air-source heat pump can deliver up to three times more heat energy than the electricity it consumes. Electric technologies often convert energy into useful output more eﬀiciently than combustion-based alternatives. Electriﬁcation can therefore reduce the total amount of energy required to perform the same work. USEFUL ENERGY DELIVERED Electric technologies deliver more useful output per unit of energy. 87–91% ELECTRIC VEHICLE vs. GASOLINE VEHICLE of battery energy in a typical EV is converted into useful vehicle movement Electric Vehicle 87–91% Gasoline Vehicle 30% ~3x AIR-SOURCE HEAT PUMP vs. ELECTRIC RESISTANCE HEATING more heat energy delivered thsn the electricity it consumes 1x Electricity In ~3x Heat Out

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 18 02.4 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING Transportation Electricity consumed by U.S. light-duty EVs increased from roughly 1.6 TWh in 2018 to 23.5 TWh in 2025, nearly a 15-fold increase in seven years. As more cars, trucks, and commercial ﬂeets electrify, energy demand that historically ﬂowed through reﬁneries and gas stations is increasingly being redirected toward the grid and charging infrastructure. (source) EV adoption is shifting transportation demand from liquid fuels to electricity. the increase in electricity consumed by U.S. light-duty EVs 2018 2025 15x 18

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 19 02.5 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING U.S. Industrial Reshoring & Manufacturing U.S. manufacturing construction spending rose by more than 50% in 2022, another 62% in 2023, and 16% in 2024, driven in part by semiconductor fabs, battery plants, and other advanced manufacturing projects. These facilities require signiﬁcant amounts of reliable, aﬀordable power, making regional electricity availability an increasingly important factor in where companies locate and expand. (source) New factories and advanced manufacturing facilities are creating large, concentrated sources of electricity demand. MANUFACTURING CONSTRUCTION SPENDING IS SURGING Year-over-year increase in U.S. manufacturing construction spending +50% +62% +16% 2022 2023 2024 Surge driven by reshoring momentum and the ﬁrst wave of advanced manufacturing projects. Semiconductor fabs, battery plants, and other mega-projects pushed construction spending even higher. Growth continued as more announced facilities moved into active build-out. New factories don’t just need land and labor—they need reliable power.

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 20 02.6 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING Climate & Policy Pressure As of December 2025, 28 states and Washington, D.C. had renewable portfolio standards, while 23 states and D.C. had a requirement or goal to reach 100% renewable or clean electricity by 2050 or earlier. These mandates and incentives are helping push utilities, companies, and consumers toward electric and lower-carbon alternatives. (source) Policy continues to reinforce the shift toward cleaner and increasingly electric energy systems, particularly at the state level. states and D.C. had renewable portfolio standards as of 2025 states and D.C. had a requirement or goal to reach 100% renewable or clean electricity by 2050 28 23 20

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 21 02.6 WHY NOW: ELECTRICITY DEMAND IS ACCELERATING The Next Constraint Is Physical The next phase of the transition depends on whether the physical system underneath it can keep pace, and there are real challenges that determine how quickly that happens. Electriﬁcation is pulling more of the economy onto the grid, but scaling that shift is not automatic. 21

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 22 Energy Transition Constraints The transition faces the following six structural bottlenecks, each operating at a diﬀerent layer of the energy stack: 03.1 03.2 03.3 03.4 03.5 Resource Nationalism & the Geopolitics of Mining and Reﬁning Grid Congestion & the Interconnection Backlog Permitting, NIMBYism & the Politics of the Buildout Storage Duration & the Complexity of Renewable Dispatch Labor Shortage With this transition underway, there are implications and challenges with who captures the upside, how fast it moves, and what stands in the way. The history of energy systems matters because it shows a consistent pattern: when energy becomes cheaper, more reliable, or easier to distribute, it expands what a country can build. Every major energy transition has ultimately been shaped by whether infrastructure could keep pace with demand. Demand is rising at a moment when the system was built for a very diﬀerent era. And unlike past transitions, where solving one major bottleneck helped unlock the next phase of growth, today’s constraints are more interconnected. CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 22 SECTION 3

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 23 03.1 ENERGY TRANSITION CONSTRAINTS Resource Nationalism & the Geopolitics of Mining and Reﬁning The physical materials that will enable this shift rely on minerals. Batteries depend on lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. Wind turbines and EV motors rely on rare earth elements. The grid itself requires large volumes of copper and aluminum (source). As electricity demand rises, the constraint is whether the U.S. can secure, reﬁne, and control the physical inputs required to build the system. The core problem is that mineral supply chains are highly concentrated, especially after extraction. Mining is the process of pulling raw materials out of the ground; reﬁning is what turns those materials into usable industrial inputs, such as battery- grade lithium, processed graphite, separated rare earths, and magnet materials. The U.S. may have access to some reserves and domestic production, but China’s more durable advantage sits in the midstream: separating, reﬁning, and manufacturing critical minerals into usable components. The DOE’s 2023 Critical Materials Assessment makes this exposure clear. The report ranks materials by their importance to energy technologies and their supply risk through 2035, with certain rare earth elements that are essential to the permanent magnets that power electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, advanced electronics, and defense systems being among the highest-risk inputs to the U.S. In 2024, global rare earth reserves totaled more than 90 million tonnes, with China holding roughly 44–45 million tonnes and the U.S. holding about 1.9 million tonnes. While the U.S. produced roughly 45,000 tonnes last year (source), USGS data shows the U.S. remains 100% net import reliant for several nonfuel mineral commodities, with China still the leading supplier across many of them (source). The Results of the 2023 DOE Critical Materials Assessmentenergy stack: Medium Term: 2020-2025

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 24 03.2 ENERGY TRANSITION CONSTRAINTS Grid Congestion & the Interconnection Backlog Much of the U.S. transmission network was built for a diﬀerent electricity system: large centralized power plants, steadier demand growth, and more predictable ﬂows of power. That architecture is now under strain as the grid absorbs more industrial demand. The problem is that the U.S. needs more electricity and its system cannot move power from where it is generated to where it is needed fast enough. At a basic level, power is produced by generators, moved across high-voltage transmission lines, delivered through local utilities and distribution networks, and ultimately consumed by homes and businesses. In organized markets, RTOs and ISOs sit in the middle of that system, coordinating transmission and wholesale power markets so supply can meet demand in real time. Grid congestion is the power system’s version of a traﬀic jam. When transmission lines are constrained, low-cost power can get trapped in one region, customers on the other side may have to rely on more expensive local generation, and operators have less ﬂexibility during periods of stress. In the Southwest Power Pool, for example, wind can regularly meet more than 75% of electricity demand across the 14-state region, but limited transmission can leave that power bottled up by congestion (source). This is happening on top of aging infrastructure: 70% of U.S. transmission lines are more than 25 years old, large power transformers average more than 40 years old, and outages have more than doubled versus the prior six-year period (source). How Power Reaches End Customers: From generation to the grid to homes and businesses Electricity physically ﬂows from generation to customers; market and coordination layers help route and manage that system. Power Generation Power Generation RTO / ISO Market Operator Coordinates transmission and wholesale markets Transmission & Distribution Network Moves power across the grid Local Utility / Retail Provider Delivers service to customers Home / Business Consumes electricity 1 2 3 4 5 Because power moves through multiple layers of operators, networks, and utilities, grid modernization and new transmission projects often require coordination across many stakeholders

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 25 03.2 ENERGY TRANSITION CONSTRAINTS Grid Congestion & the Interconnection Backlog (cont.) The map below shows why this is hard to solve centrally. The U.S. grid is not managed by one uniﬁed operator. FERC oversees interstate transmission and wholesale power markets, but regional grid operators, utilities, state regulators, and local authorities all shape how power moves and how new infrastructure gets approved. This regional structure matters because new transmission often has to move through overlapping federal, state, utility, and regional approval processes. Interconnection is where that bottleneck becomes most visible. Before a new power project can connect to the grid, it must go through technical studies that determine whether the system can absorb the project safely, what upgrades are needed, who pays for them, and whether the project creates reliability or cost issues elsewhere. Those studies can take years and cost millions of dollars. Berkeley Lab estimates that nearly 2,600 GW of energy and storage capacity is waiting in U.S. interconnection queues, almost twice the size of the current U.S. grid (source). The scale of required upgrades is enormous. Marsh McLennan, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisory ﬁrm, estimates that more than 140,000 miles of U.S. transmission lines may need to be replaced by 2050, with ﬁxes and upgrades costing more than $1 trillion (source). The federal government is beginning to respond. DOE’s roughly $1.9 billion SPARK program, announced March 2026, focuses on reconductoring, advanced transmission technologies, and cross-regional coordination (source), while FERC issued show-cause orders, as of July 2026, to the six RTOs and ISOs aimed at accelerating how large loads like data centers connect to the grid (source). The orders push for clearer transmission service rules, co-location and behind-the-meter protocols, faster studies for generation located near load, grid-enhancing technologies like dynamic line ratings, stronger cost recovery from large loads, ﬁnancial security to discourage speculative projects, and improved load forecasting. The move is meaningful, but it reinforces that there is a coordination problem across areas such as permitting, cost allocation, utility planning, regional market rules, and infrastructure. Major U.S. RTOs & ISOs: All RTOs are ISOs, but RTOs meet stricter federal requirements for size, scope, and governance. source RTO Regional Transmission Organization Manages transmission and wholesale electricity markets across large multi-state regions. ISO Independent System Operator Performs a similar role, often across smaller regional or single-state markets. Non-ISO / Non-RTO Areas These areas rely on vertically integrated utilities and balancing authorities, with utility-led dispatch and bilateral power transactions rather than organized wholesale markets.

CONFIDENTIAL + PROPRIETARY 26 03.3 ENERGY TRANSITION CONSTRAINTS Permitting, NIMBYism & the Politics of Buildout Permitting, land use, and local opposition are another major constraint on the energy transition. New generation, transmission, storage, and industrial facilities all need approvals across federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These projects also navigate community concerns around land, noise, property values, agricultural use, and environmental impact. A Berkeley Lab survey of large-scale wind and solar developers found that roughly one-third of siting applications submitted in the last ﬁve years were canceled, while about half experienced delays of six months or more (source). Local ordinances and zoning, grid interconnection, and community opposition were among the top causes of both cancellations and delays. So even when projects are economically viable, they can still be slowed or stopped by permitting timelines, community resistance, and fragmented approval processes. As opposition becomes more prevalent and more expensive to address, the speed of the energy transition will increasingly depend on how well projects navigate the communities and jurisdictions where they are built. The cost is also material: $200,000 per MW Cost to developers from project delays source $2M+ Average sunk cost of canceled solar projects $7.5M Average sunk cost of canceled wind projects