ENERGY TODAY

In 2017, the Society for Civil Engineers issued its quadrennial report card on infrastructure in America and gave it a D+ grade, no improvement from four years earlier. Meanwhile, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center released a report with essentially the same conclusion: US infrastructure is so decayed that investments must be made "today." Again in 2009, the SCE gave US infrastructure a near failing grade, as it will no doubt again in 2021.

Much of the US energy system predates the turn of the 21st century. The majority of the electricity grid was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, with a 50-year life expectancy, and the entire system often operates at full capacity. Without greater attention to aging equipment, capacity bottlenecks, and increased demand, as well as increasing storm and climate impacts, Americans will likely experience longer and more frequent power interruptions.

In this issue of Energy Today, articles by the CEO of Southern Company Tom Fanning, former US Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz, and former US Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Poneman and co-author Lindsey Geisler, all make the case for a greater commitment to America's energy infrastructure, and what’s at stake if we fail to do so. Another article provides more context about today’s “old, dirty, creaky” electricity grid, and the final article offers a hopeful case for hydropower, as demonstrated by Norway’s long experience with that renewable technology.

Table of Contents

Microgrids and Nuclear Energy: Shelter From the Storm
By Dan Poneman and Lindsey Geisler

Energy infrastructure in the US is more than just critical. It is the fabric that keeps our society running. What's the best way to protect energy infrastructure? Increase investment in the grid, its resources, and the infrastructure needed to support it all.

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission: What Did It Find?
By Thomas A. Fanning

Discussions about the future of energy have become increasingly polarized and politicized. Participants and stakeholders on all sides selectively dismiss facts that do not suit their worldview or professional ambitions. Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Co., offers a humble and gentle reminder that we can go further in effecting an equitable energy transition by building bridges.

Clean Energy and Labor Partner Up for Economic Recovery
By the Energy Futures Initiative

Gretchen Whitmer ran for Governor of Michigan in 2018 on the slogan, “Fix the damn roads!” As Ernie Moniz and the Energy Futures Initiative point out in their new report, the governor could have easily inserted "energy infrastructure" in place of "roads."

The Old, Dirty, Creaky US Electric Grid Would Cost $5 Trillion to Replace
By Joshua D. Rhodes

Some call the electricity grid the greatest engineering achievement in the 20th century. But it is also expensive. The estimated cost to repair it is almost $1.5 trillion, and that means the grid needs significant ongoing investment just to keep things the way they are. We can't afford it, but we can't afford to ignore it either.

Water Works:
Norway's Case for Hydropower
By the American Energy Society

Hydropower technologies have been used for thousands of years. Can it provide a cost-effective, reliable, and renewable non-carbon source of energy for today’s modern world? Norway proves it can.

Did you miss the energy news you needed to know last week?

Check out Energy Matters (November 9, 2020)

In case you missed the previous issue of Energy Today: The Disruptors: US Research Universities Building the New Energy Economy.

SPONSORS