I can't make anything work, I build the stuff, it takes my resources, but it doesn't work, am I dense?
Could be one of two things. If stuff is still a blue hologram you need to hold up while next to it to pump energy into it and properly build it. If you've already done that then there's not enough/not strong enough generators touching a consuming building or you're siphoning away too much energy from the generators by touching them.