T&D Grid

“Zach and I are hitting on the ways that engineers can expand their thinking to set up craft labor for more successful and safe execution.”

“The key takeaway is understanding the evolving approach to traditional refurbishment projects. That’s where advanced conductors like ACCC come in. These all-aluminum composite conductors offer higher capacity and performance without requiring changes to the existing line design.”

James Duehning, Mark Van Dyne, Kent Herzog, Alex Lee, and Andrew Schulte: “We need to shift from a deterministic planning model to something more probabilistic, especially with all the uncertainty around future load and generation. The way we identify project needs today doesn’t fully reflect the realities we’re facing.”

“We came across a neat wrinkle around the untapped potential of existing retired infrastructure, like a retired coal plant, which in many cases has transmission interconnection and substation infrastructure. There are about 180 or so that have adequate infrastructure for utilities to consider retrofitting.“

“Every year, 10 million miles of conductor are needed. Even with our South Carolina expansion, we’re looking at about 30,000 miles of conductor. That is a drop in the bucket. That 150 million miles of conductor needed in 15 years is for the global marketplace, but it is still a massive number.”

“Utilities are focused on making sure they can meet the growth, but we’re also seeing the impact of continued weather events, extreme climate events that require a resilient, reliable grid. We have not seen a stop of those investments from a grid-modernization, grid-reliability perspective.”

“While they’ve acknowledged the workforce lacks the technical expertise to deploy AI and machine learning, they are looking at how to fix this through more training. About 48% of those surveyed said continuous training and education can help bridge that expertise gap.”

“AI enables real-time dynamic pricing models, which allow for more efficient integration of intermittent renewables on the grid, and data center companies have begun leveraging AI to decarbonize their own operations.”

“A new model has emerged: co-location. Rather than wait in the transmission queue or depend on grid upgrades, large loads are siting next to generation to bypass delays with grid expansion. It’s raising questions about how the grid is planned, who pays, and where regulatory boundaries lie.”

“Some utilities are already exploring structured cost-sharing models, such as milestone-based investment commitments and firm load agreements, to ensure that new infrastructure investments are made with clear demand signals.”