Introduction to Grid Vision: Optimize the Grid We Have & Build the Grid We Need

In this video, Steve Lockard, who leads Impact Projects for OpenMinds, talks with Francis Slingsby, who heads Grid Vision, the current flagship Impact Project. Grid Vision is a set of solutions designed to help address the Dual Challenge. The video explains in plain terms how to optimize the grid we have and build the grid we need to meet affordable, reliable load growth.

Key points

• U.S. power consumption is expected to rise about 50%, from about 4,000 terawatt hours in 2025 to 6,000 by 2035.
• Slingsby calls it an 800 gigawatt problem: roughly 300 gigawatts from using today's grid more efficiently, through advanced reconductoring, grid enhancing technologies, distributed energy and storage, and about 500 gigawatts from new in-region and interregional build.
• Working with coalition member Grid Strategies, OpenMinds identified shovel-ready projects that could be in service by 2030 and carry power from all generating sources.
• On cost allocation, Slingsby argues that companies whose new demand, such as a data center, adds load should help keep costs from rising unfairly for average consumers.