As we sat down to write this essay in mid-March, hundreds of thousands of people in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and Texas were without electricity for days after heavy late-season snows and high winds took down power lines. Then just days ago, more powerful storms swept through the Midwest, leaving thousands more in the dark. Both events were stark reminders that America's grid is careening toward its breaking point.
“Energy dominance” is the Trump Administration's energy motto, which we interpret as producing enough reliable and affordable domestic energy to meet our increasing needs. We’re missing a piece of the puzzle. While domestic oil and natural gas production continues to rise, the U.S. electricity system is in decline.
After two decades of relatively level electricity consumption, demand is growing again. By 2050, our electricity needs are projected to nearly double, according to the Department of Energy. Advanced manufacturing plants, electric vehicles, and data centers processing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining are among the major drivers of this growth.
A modern grid can restore power in minutes, meet growing manufacturing and AI electricity needs, and protect against cyberattacks. Our grid isn't prepared for this challenge. We lack sufficient high-voltage transmission lines to safely carry additional electricity to large-load consumers. Much of our existing infrastructure is outdated. Most of our grid was built in the 1960s and 1970s, approaching the end of its useful life. We continue to rely on lines across communities on wooden poles vulnerable to increasingly severe weather. While we've automated energy distribution systems for efficiency, this has made them more susceptible to cyberattacks.
Soon, activating a new data center might feel like a dangerous gamble. That area's grid could remain functional — or not.
America needs a national plan to rescue our grid. In February, we got together with more than 80 top energy experts, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, for a meeting at Stanford University to explore how to meet critical U.S. electricity challenges. That meant coming up with ideas that were both technically feasible and politically palatable.
The resulting report outlines six big ideas for achieving an affordable, reliable, and secure grid:
1. Ensure American security remains at the heart of the nation’s energy strategy.
2. Advance a true all-of-the-above energy strategy.
3. Create a new federal and state grid investment trust fund.
4. Reform permitting processes to expedite grid infrastructure projects.
5. Promote and scale innovative, flexible grid policies.
6. Prioritize affordability through modernized utility operations and business models.
One place we drew inspiration is from the Highway Trust Fund, which has financed much highway construction and maintenance since 1956. A similar endowment dedicated to strengthening the grid could cover the costs of building additional transmission lines and renovating aging ones. Congress might consider financing this grid infrastructure trust fund with proportional contributions from the largest electricity users.
Such financing can succeed only alongside meaningful national permitting reform. New transmission lines are frequently delayed for a decade or more because states hesitate to issue permits. When developers seek to build transmission lines on federal lands, they face cumbersome environmental reviews that can halt projects entirely. Major permitting reform failed to pass Congress as recently as last year, but bipartisan negotiators can bring a successful bill to the floor in the current session.
Transmission lines are agnostic about the source of the energy flowing across them, and our energy policy should be the same. The keyword should be, as it has long been in many political circles, “all of the above.” We shouldn't undermine any energy source ready to deploy today. Few new natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants can be constructed by 2030. In the near term, renewables and energy storage are more ready to deploy, and regardless of what is best, these are what utilities are relying on for the next few years.
We want technology companies developing the world's most sophisticated AI models in America. We want manufacturing plants building cutting-edge products in our communities. Producing enough energy to power these industries is fundamental to our national and economic security. If AI systems can enable new weapons development, support offensive cyber operations, or facilitate mass surveillance, we should oversee and regulate those systems within our borders.
New manufacturing plants are already creating good-paying American jobs while bringing supply chains for semiconductors and other critical technologies back home. Turning away these businesses because we can't meet their energy needs would mean surrendering our technological and economic advantage to overseas competitors.
Alongside drinkable water, clean air, and paved roads, Americans expect reliable electricity. We can build and repair our transmission systems while producing more energy. We can permit new high-voltage lines while supporting data centers and manufacturing plants. We can incentivize power production, simplify bureaucracy, and strengthen national security.
Our hope is that these six ideas spark a conversation about how we can rescue our grid and, as a result, our economic growth, technological leadership, and national security. Advancing them will require working across the aisle, across sectors, and in partnership across federal, state, and local levels.
Done right, America can fortify its transmission infrastructure against grid overload, natural disasters, and cyberattacks. Large corporate consumers would access the electricity they need, while homeowners and small businesses would enjoy reliable power from a modernized grid.
Congress can make our energy economy the envy of the world. The work starts by rescuing our grid.
EPA
Image: Todd Cravens/Unsplash
