The proliferation of data centers across the United States represents new “loads” (i.e., sources of demand) on the electrical grid. Data centers require enormous amounts of energy to power and cool their computing systems that operate continuously or near-continuously. To meet this demand, new energy infrastructure—both generation and transmission—will need […]
Grid
26 posts
Data center development and its climate, environmental, and energy impacts have emerged as a central and hotly debated issue facing local governments in 2026. Various studies have explored, among other things, the large amounts of land required for data centers; their immense use of energy and water ; their greenhouse gas […]
A major bottleneck in the deployment of renewable energy systems is the lack of adequate transmission capacity. According to recent studies cited by the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States will “need to expand transmission systems by 60% by 2030 and may need to triple those systems by 2050” […]
Following the 2007 landmark Supreme Court case Massachusetts v. EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. These emissions standards were significantly loosened in the last year of the Trump Administration. In 2021 the Biden Administration […]
By Romany Webb Two days after making landfall in the Florida Panhandle, Hurricane Michael has now moved out to sea, leaving behind damage that could take years to repair. In Florida’s Mexico Beach, where Michael first hit as a category four storm, entire blocks of homes and businesses have been […]
by Justin Gundlach and Romany Webb Resilience—the capacity to withstand, absorb, recover from, and better adapt to disruption—is currently a popular topic of discussion and debate. Several factors, including a string of disasters and unrelated but coincident regulatory processes, have made resilience a key objective for a wide array of […]
by Justin Gundlach As a spate of disasters in the past few months has made painfully clear to people in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and northern California, designing the electric grid to be reliable at all times requires anticipating and preparing for destructive hazards that can interrupt its operation. […]
by Justin Gundlach Due to damage from Hurricane Irma, the lights are out in much of southern Florida—an inconvenience to many and fatal to some. Meanwhile, in Texas, power still has not been restored everywhere in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. As the Wall Street Journal headline says of both […]