ICYMI: Experts Detail How/Why U.S. Can Be Building Better Electric Grid, at CE4A’s June 22nd Event

The U.S. is facing obstacles and opportunities with its energy grid, and panelists discussed both those problems and solutions at Wednesday’s event. The speakers were experts on reliability and transmission: Michael Skelly of Grid United, Adrienne Mouton-Henderson of Clean Energy Buyers Network, Rob Gramlich of Americans for Clean Energy Grid, Christina Hayes of Berkshire Hathaway, and the moderator was James Hewett of Breakthrough Energy.

As Rob Gramlich said, “Everybody cares about reliability and the public safety and health that comes with a reliable power system…Transmission is usually what saves the day when one region is short.” 

All the panelists agreed the U.S. needs to build a better, cleaner grid because extreme weather is taxing our existing one, and clean energy is entering the mix like never before, so sticking with old transmission lines, transformers, and more just won’t do.

As Michael Skelly said, “There’s a whole lot of reasons to invest in the grid, and they range from more energy options, more choices, better resilience. I think most people, regardless of where you sit politically, believe that we will use more and more electricity in the future, and that means we need more grid.” 

The challenges facing our grid won’t go away, either. Climate change is worsening and so are blackouts. Plus, the inputs of renewables will continue to grow and grow, with support from the Biden administration. (Earlier in June, President Biden protected thousands of solar jobs by exempting solar panels from new tariffs for two years and by enlisting the Defense Production Act to supercharge U.S. clean energy manufacturing). An old fashioned grid will naturally struggle to optimize usage of next generation power, and so the answer must be grid modernization.

Building a better, cleaner grid is good for everyone. 

As said by Adrienne Mouton-Henderson of Clean Energy Buyer Network, “Every $1 billion invested in large scale transmission infrastrures generates economic prosperity. There's 7,000 construction jobs created from that, and there’s $2-3 billion in customer benefits…That economic impact is a way of trickling down for all members.” 

Doing nothing, panelists agreed, could endanger reliability. Modernizing the grid could deliver benefits for all. 

Watch the full webinar here: CE4A Webinar: Building Our Electric Grid for the 21st Century .
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