POLITICO: Investing in the Grid, Investing in Our Customers 

By Drew Maloney, President and CEO, EEI

The energy grid is one of America’s three great infrastructural innovations, alongside the railroad and the federal highway system.

And yet, despite how reliant we are on the grid and the reliable, affordable electricity it delivers to power daily life, we usually don’t think twice when we flip a light switch, turn on the television or put leftovers in a microwave.

The lineworkers and electric companies responsible for maintaining and upgrading the grid do their jobs so reliably that most of us treat access to energy as an afterthought — 99.9 percent of the time, we don’t cross our fingers before plugging in our phones. We just plug them in, and they charge.

That’s by design. The grid — and the hard work happening behind the scenes to support it — makes that possible.

A new independent analysis from Concentric Energy Advisors shows the value of the grid is greater than the sum of its 22,000 generators, 55,000 substations, 642,000 miles of transmission lines and 6.3 million miles of distribution infrastructure.

The report describes the grid as “the backbone of nearly all economic activity and public services” in the United States. It reliably powers every sector and supports critical national security functions, including defense, emergency response, water systems and communications.

But it is not a static, set-it-and-forget-it asset. It needs to evolve as America’s energy use evolves, and it needs to expand as electrification, industrialization, the reshoring of manufacturing activity, data centers and AI technologies reshape the need for reliable, affordable energy in the United States.

The grid needs prudent, ongoing maintenance just to sustain current levels of reliability — maintenance that avoids expensive emergency repairs and higher operating costs down the road.

To keep pace with demand growth and continue delivering the energy of every day in America, we need more steel in the ground and electrons on the grid — plain and simple.

The new Concentric Energy Advisors report concludes that continued investment in the grid is “a foundational enabler of U.S. economic growth and prosperity.” Electricity accounts for 5 percent of U.S. GDP and powers the other 95 percent, which means that if the grid isn’t working, America isn’t working.

That’s why electric companies will invest $239 billion this year and $1.4 trillion through 2030 to make the grid smarter, stronger, more reliable and more secure. These projects ensure the grid continues delivering the energy of every day, keeping the lights on at homes, schools and businesses across the country.

They also position America for success down the road, ensuring we can win the AI race and support the jobs, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

Our businesses thrive when our customers thrive. Investor-owned electric companies work every day to deliver energy as affordably as possible to the 250 million Americans counting on us. Responsible, sustained investment in the grid will power the nation’s economic growth while ensuring we can continue delivering that reliable and affordable energy today and in the future.

We stand ready to build, but we cannot make progress alone. We need policy and regulatory environments that support these investments. We need to cut through government red tape delaying projects and saddling customers with unnecessary costs.

Our businesses thrive when our customers thrive. Investor-owned electric companies work every day to deliver energy as affordably as possible to the 250 million Americans counting on us.

We need the access to capital needed to fund major infrastructure projects, without politically driven caps on returns that make for good campaign soundbites but ultimately fail to deliver results for customers.

At the end of the day, we need action. The costs of standing still are too great for our customers and for America’s competitiveness. Although it is easy to overlook all the wires and all the work that ensures the lights turn on when you flip a switch, we must not lose sight of the grid’s role as the backbone of modern society.

Investing in the grid means investing in our nation’s future. And it’s incumbent upon all of us to ensure that future is bright.