During this time of giving thanks, we can be especially grateful that the state of Washington is not in charge of the U.S. space program. Under its definition of “moon shot,” the state’s bureaucrats would launch a rocket and then try to build the space capsule as it was traveling toward the moon.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the problem with that proposition.

Back on earth, Washington state’s leaders have been mighty busy trying to save the planet. Among the many projects they have undertaken is building a network of “clean” electrical generation in the form of wind turbines and solar panels and string more transmission lines to get power to Seattle and other parts of the state.

The state’s utilities reckon that this will be a problem. As more data centers are built and more of Washington’s cars and trucks are converted to battery power, the demand for electricity will increase 30% in the next decade. That’s equivalent to adding seven Seattles to the demand side of the ledger.

Never mind that Washington already has a system of hydroelectric generators that serves the state well, but the governor and others have targeted them for removal.

Keeping the lights on will require a 21st century “moon shot,” the state’s electric utilities have warned. It would require massive new generation capacity and a web of new transmission lines crisscrossing the state.

The state’s response: Not to worry. The generators and transmission lines will be built by the time they are needed.

The problem: They are needed now. Last winter the state almost ran short of electricity during a cold spell. Demand peaked at 35.5 gigawatts. It turns out the wind turbines and solar panels don’t work so well during the dead of winter, with low temperatures and short stretches of daylight.

Building major projects takes time, and lots of it. Design alone can take many years. Add the time it takes to obtain regulatory approval and rights of way, and the time frame can be measured in decades. Add the time it takes to build massive wind turbine and solar farms with enough capacity to handle the added loads, and many of the politicians currently pushing these projects will be retired by the time they are approved and built.

“It’s definitely stressing the industry out, but I haven’t seen the concerted effort that I think of with the control room in Houston — those guys in their short-sleeve white shirts and narrow ties sweating it out,” said state Commerce Department energy policy director Glenn Blackmon. “People are a little bit out of practice planning for and meeting our growth in electricity demand. I think they have the tools to do that. I think it’s going to take a lot of hard work. We’ve also just got to go out and build some stuff.”

One has to wonder how many power plants and transmission lines the state government has built.