Congress and the Biden Administration are pushing to fund it and, most importantly, put the climate-oriented policy frameworks in place to do it right. As of September 2021, Congress is poised to act on the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. If it passes, it will provide significant funds to jump-start electrification and enable decisive movement toward a low-carbon electric grid. We are actively supporting many of our clients in operationalizing this exciting and challenging shift from vehicles powered by gasoline to an electrified future.

Why is modernizing the grid so important? The International Energy Agency expects the global electric vehicle fleet to reach about 130 million by 2030, and to increase electricity demand by 4-to-6 percent. Technological and policy developments could push these numbers much higher. What we do know is this: Electric vehicles will vastly increase the demands on our energy grid. We are working with our clients to plan and execute effective modernization strategies that take into account the specific grid-related needs and issues from the micro to macro level so that we can reliably power electric vehicles and boost user confidence. Recent severe weather-related U.S. grid shortages and outages have further highlighted the need to modernize the grid for resilience as well as effectively power our transportation infrastructure.

The electric grid, as we know it, needs to adapt. Once sourced solely from large power plants, modern grids need to accommodate increased supplies from renewable, distributed resources that enable power to flow more flexibly based on supply and demand. While some solutions will be shared, each utility and geographical region will have different grid resources and demands, so a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work. Physical infrastructure improvements coupled with digital smart grid management technology will enable distribution utilities to move energy from one part of the grid to another to avoid service interruptions. And innovation will play a key role in enabling these new-use requirements.

Electric utilities are poised to see a significant growth in demand for their services. Utilities, as well as the policy making community, must be proactive to support the effective transition to transportation electrification: modeling, developing, implementing and managing programs and incentives to advance energy infrastructure and grid modernization.

Enter the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With proposed federal investments to reenergize America’s power grid and transmission systems, resources will flow to states and municipalities to modernize the grid, producing jobs and strengthening communities along the way. As passed by the U.S. Senate in August 2021, this $1.2 trillion investment toward infrastructure initiatives would be spent in just five years – an average of $700 million dollars a day – and approval by the House of Representatives and President Biden’s signature are all that’s required to authorize the funding. The funds proposed for grid modernization and transportation electrification is significant, and ArchTam is supporting our proactive clients in preparing to leverage these funding resources as they are made available.

As of this writing, Congress is also considering other funding proposals as outlined in the Administration’s Build Back Better Initiative that target electrifying our transportation infrastructure.  Funding has targeted building out a national network of charging stations, subsidizing renewable energy development, incentivizing consumers to purchase electric vehicles, funding municipalities and states to convert their school bus fleets from diesel to electric, and many other investments that would fund the transition to a low-carbon transportation system.

New allies, new challenges. The transition to electrified transportation and distributed energy resources also highlights the need for collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Their partnership can benefit utility companies and transit agencies by delivering roadmaps for electrification programs and incentive funding through existing loan programs and contracting measures. The DOT typically funds vehicles, such as new buses, but not the energy infrastructure needed to support electrified fleets. The DOE can help plan the modernization of the grid and provide technical expertise to expand advanced control systems.

The nation’s electric utility industry is grappling with the difficult challenge of powering up the nation’s vehicles as more people are buying electric cars, fleets are announcing conversions, manufacturers are responding to the demand and policy makers are encouraging the shift. The electric utility industry is highly regulated, and it’s designed from a regulatory standpoint to deliver the power needed when the customer wants it. How will different utilities meet the challenge, and mitigate the risks? How quickly will demand grow? How should utility rate structures be optimally designed? What are the reliability issues that need to be mitigated? How will be local distribution utilities fund grid improvements needed to effectively power all the new transportation-related needs? And what’s the right blend of private vs. public investment?  

While the challenges are significant, the opportunity is greater.  With the initial funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, innovative thinking from DOT and DOE, the private sector can and will respond with solutions.  At ArchTam, where we are deeply involved in all aspects of transportation, we can see that grid modernization is at the heart of transportation electrification. It’s an opportunity to create new jobs, power the transition to a lower-carbon use economy and deliver the future of infrastructure.

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Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our society, a modern infrastructure program – intelligent, efficient and connected – can transform systems to address current and future natural and man-made stresses and shocks. Done right, this investment could lead to a more resilient and sustainable system, with equitable economic recovery for all.

Coordinated planning, employing digital innovation on a regional or statewide scale, will create higher-performing infrastructure while meeting financial and operating realities. Take our electric grid as an example. Developed more than 130 years ago as a one-way system to meet increasing demand for power, the grid worked well for us for many years. But it has not kept pace with current needs. The electric grid we need now must be distributed, with networked, intelligent and advanced controls to meet our decarbonization goals while improving reliability and eliminating redundancy.

An economic recovery plan that accelerates grid modernization will build community and economic resilience while also serving environmental and social goals. This policy and investment are particularly relevant to regions where power systems are at risk, such as California, where cities and towns face days-long outages due to natural disasters and with significant impacts to critical services for vulnerable residents.

One such opportunity is the recent California Resilience Challenge. Spearheaded by the Bay Area Council, multiple applications were received from communities seeking to increase resilience to drought, floods, heatwaves and wildfires. Many of these entries were smart and creative, but too localized in scope to garner enough momentum to deliver the change they sought.

Defining current system conditions and developing a roadmap forward will enable us to think bigger and bundle these smart ideas into scalable solutions. Incorporating technologies to track conditions, and creating frameworks to measure success, will ensure that infrastructure systems are resilient now and into the future. ArchTam has developed similar metrics for the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s water system improvement program and for Chicago’s Bronzeville Community Microgrid. In each case, in addition to financial and environmental factors, the model includes defined social benefits in the decision-making process. To speed up infrastructure investment on a local level, it’s imperative to create frameworks that can be scaled regionally and gain community support.

These new behaviors and perspectives on infrastructure modernization will serve our communities on many levels, including providing resilience, advancing sustainability and improving social and environmental equity. Now is the time to invest in bold, cohesive infrastructure modernization initiatives to sustain economic advancement for our communities – now and into the future.

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With increasing power demands and expanding electrification of transportation and other sectors, the amount of power used and produced on various parts of the grid is fluctuating at levels never seen before. Can we adapt and upgrade the grid to include the new capabilities needed to adjust to climate change while continuing to provide the reliable and affordable power we need? There are no easy answers – but there are solutions.

The electric grid was complex when built and it is getting even more complex as we add electrical loads and generation in places not anticipated in the original grid designs. Across the country, homes and businesses that once only consumed electricity are now producing it with the help of solar panels, microturbines, combined heat and power, as well as other sources that now make it possible to reverse the power flow. We can respond to this trend by delivering a series of resources.

To start, implementing a high-speed communications infrastructure that connects advanced sensors will ensure that all data are available and analyzed when needed, providing grid operators with greater visibility and abilities to react. Flexible resources, like smart inverters, can preserve reliability with higher levels of solar photovoltaics, and energy storage can deliver power when clouds are overhead. Grid connected devices like smart thermostats can respond to price signals and microgrids can help maintain the stability of the entire grid.

A smarter electric grid greatly enhances the ability of energy users to be more efficient and/or to shift their use to times that are the most convenient and economically advantageous for them. Grid operators can send users the price signals needed to make that happen.

This brings us to the discussion of how grids are planned. Adapting to these changes requires our grid planners to think in new ways. Managing this future smart grid will necessitate investment in technologies as well as improve coordination between regional transmission organizations, such as Pennsylvania-Maryland-New Jersey Interconnection LLC (PJM), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), independent system operators, such as NY Independent System Operator (NY ISO) and local electric distribution companies. We will also need additional transmission lines to bring renewably sourced power from resource rich areas and increase renewables penetration, again in cooperation among grid planners at the local, regional and national levels.

Accomplishing this demands a mechanism to recognize the value of these resources and capabilities to develop and design advanced solutions for a smarter, greener energy future. ArchTam is working with grid operators across the country to value the social, economic and environmental benefits of the smarter electric grid.

By the end of the century, global energy generation will have to increase significantly to accommodate universal economic and population growth. Energy generation accounts for around 60 percent of global greenhouse gases emissions and electricity demand alone is expected to triple by 2040. Proactive measures need to be taken today to drive this energy transition while continuing to provide reliable and affordable power required to build for tomorrow.

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