Ensuring a Reliable Grid
America’s electric grid is strained by higher demand than ever before. As our lifestyles become increasingly dependent on electricity – the average American family each owns 26 plug-in electronic devices – we need to make a major investment in our energy infrastructure to maintain the existing reliability of the system and to plan for the future. A modern grid will help solve our environmental and renewable energy challenges, improve overall reliability, and lower the associated costs to the economy.
The lack of the transmission development has led to transmission constrained areas. These are locations where the system simply cannot handle the demand which leads to significant inefficiencies and significant real-dollar costs to electricity customers. There are three primary problems with the grid today:
- Congestion: Each year, congestion causes more than 184 million megawatts to never reach customers – this wasted energy would power 16.7 million homes annually.
- Inefficiency and Unreliability: Over time our system has become less efficient. According to the Department of Energy, in 1970 transmission and distribution losses were about 5 percent. Today, they have increased 90 percent. In total, outages and power quality disturbances cost the American economy $100 billion annually.
- Ability to Meet Growing Demand: Americans are consuming more electricity than ever before. We need to build more transmission now to meet growing demand that is predicted to increase by 25% by 2030.
 |
LEARN MORE: |