Grid utilization vs expansion: The 100 GW debate

About this episode

The episode discusses the debate between grid utilization and expansion in the context of an electricity supercycle.

We’re entering an electricity supercycle that is reshaping how power gets built, where it gets built, and who controls it. Across the U.S., developers are scrambling to lock up land with access to electricity. And the century-old grid is being pushed in ways it wasn’t designed for. It’s also sparking a new debate about how exactly to modernize the grid. For all the talk of capacity scarcity, the system sits idle for much of the time. A new report from The Brattle Group suggests that better utilization of the existing system could unlock 100 gigawatts of capacity, while saving ratepayers tens of billions of dollars. But some are skeptical, saying the focus on utilization and distributed resources isn’t ambitious enough, and doesn’t solve the right problems. So, do we build our way out of this moment with more steel in the ground? Or do we use what we already have more efficiently and more flexibly? This week, Brian Janous of Cloverleaf Infrastructure joins the show to unpack the debate over grid utilization vs grid expansion. Plus, we do a vibes check on the most popular narratives in energy right now — from the revival of coal, to the promise of nuclear, to America’s ability to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, Caroline Golin

Guest: Brian Janous

Topics covered

• grid utilization
• grid expansion
• electricity supercycle
• capacity scarcity
• energy narratives
• modernizing the grid

Keywords

• electricity
• grid
• capacity
• utilization
• expansion
• energy
• nuclear
• coal

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cloverleaf Infrastructure, The Brattle Group, Latitude Media

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