Power Grid Under Pressure: Is U.S. Transmission Infrastructure Ready for the Surge in Energy Demand?
Sept. 23, 2024
The demand for power is growing, but is the bulk transmission’s infrastructure ready for it? This past summer saw peak demands setting records followed by next-day power prices setting their own records, but there weren’t any records set for adding to the transmission infrastructure. Interestingly a slew of experts said we needed more technology. Granted technology has helped us keep our heads above water, but as the old-timers have always said, “there’s no substitute for wire in the air.”
That’s not to say grid-enhancing technologies aren’t really needed, they are. But how can technology bring clean energy from remote generation where there’s not a transmission line in sight? How can technology move nearly 12,000 renewable generation and storage projects out of the interconnection queue logjam? If it gets out of the queue it meets a power grid that’s not ready for it. There’s lots of competition for the limited capacity available from all of the other grid clients.
