T&D Grid

“A flexible resource only counts if we design the market, the rate, and the program that lets it participate – which is exactly where the work is, and it is well underway.”

“Rather than viewing grid expansion and affordability as competing priorities, utilities increasingly have an opportunity to advance both simultaneously by extracting more value from the transmission assets already in service.”

Utility executives from leading energy companies discussed the critical investments needed to deliver clean, reliable, and dispatchable power in an era of rising demand and decarbonization goals. This panel at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit explored emerging technologies, project economics, and regulatory challenges.

This panel at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit examined how utilities, grid operators, regulators, consumer advocates, and the Department of Energy work together to maintain grid reliability during extreme events. The discussion focused on lessons learned from recent winter storms, the role of emergency authorities such as Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, and the importance of coordination across regions and fuel types, as well as addressed issues that arise in balancing reliability, affordability, and resilience.

“Some of the Navajo travel back and forth to town and fill up coolers with ice two to three times a week to use for refrigeration. Some have small solar arrays, but generally they’re not big enough for the power to allow them to be self-sustaining.”

“We have provided financial support for Light Up Navajo. That helps pay for crews, who from early in the morning until late at night are putting poles in the ground and pulling wire out to homes that don’t have electricity.”

“I did not expect to see something like the situation in Guatemala in the State of Arizona within the U.S. That was a watershed moment.”

“Once electricity reaches the homestead, the homes can then receive water and wastewater services, including internet connection, which is important for children to study. A great improvement is getting a bathroom in the house.”

Light Up Navajo is a mutual aid project launched in 2019 by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority with the American Public Power Association to connect homes without electricity under an expedited time frame. The NTUA service territory is 27,000 square miles, spreading across northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and a small portion of southeastern Utah. PUF is shining light on this ongoing project, which is seeking energy and utility companies to take part in Light Up Navajo, also providing financial assistance, in coming years.