The US grid is changing rapidly. Electrification, new energy‑intensive loads, more frequent extreme weather, aging assets, and a shifting resource mix are reshaping when and where electricity is needed. The system will need more and higher‑capacity transmission to meet a multitude of compounding needs. Yet in most regions, transmission planning still runs in siloed tracks: generator interconnection; reliability and near‑ term needs; economic and congestion studies; asset management and end‑of‑life programs; public‑policy planning; and new efforts for large loads interconnection. Each track uses its own calendar, inputs, and study methods. Coordination occurs, but mostly as one‑off touchpoints rather than a recurring process with shared inputs and firm decision points.
These parallel tracks produce piecemeal upgrades that under-utilize corridors, raise costs, and miss multi‑ benefit opportunities. What gets built sets the grid’s capabilities. As evident in the outcomes of the current planning approach over the past two decades, a pipeline of transmission upgrades that is heavy on lower‑voltage, lower‑capacity projects addresses local, near‑term problems but adds little regional headroom. Regular additions of larger, higher‑voltage facilities create durable transfer paths, reduce corridor rework, and make room for new generation and loads without the need for potentially costly workarounds. To identify the most cost-effective regionally focused upgrades requires an integrated approach.
This report titled “Modernizing Transmission Planning: Integrating Silos to Deliver Multi-Driver, Multi-Value Outcomes” addresses a central challenge: U.S. transmission planning remains fragmented across several planning areas including generator interconnection, load interconnection, reliability, economic, asset replacement, and public policy, tracks that have separate mandates and operate on misaligned timelines and with different assumptions. This siloed approach produces piecemeal fixes, repeated mitigations in the same transmission corridors, and slower, less predictable interconnection of generation and load just as demand rises, large loads concentrate, resources shift, and extreme weather increases system stress.
Access the report here