Dear OpenMinds Colleagues and Friends:
The Grid Vision Plan is now public. On April 15th, more than 100 senior energy and climate leaders gathered at Stanford for the Grid Vision Summit to release it. If you weren’t in the room, here’s what happened and where things stand.
U.S. electricity demand is growing at 10 times its historical rate. Data centers, electrification, and manufacturing reshoring are all pulling on a grid that wasn’t designed for this. Electricity prices are up. Permitting a new transmission project in the U.S. takes 4 to 8 years. China is building transmission three times faster than we are.
No one at OM26 challenged this picture.
The Grid Vision Plan, developed with support from Bain & Co, identifies five priority areas for investment that can collectively unlock 800+ GW of additional capacity by 2035, enough to meet projected demand.
Deploy advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) at scale. Reconductoring existing lines and deploying AI-enabled grid-enhancing technologies can unlock 120–170 GW without building new infrastructure.
Scale distributed solar and gas generation. Up to 200 GW of on-site and local generation, co-located with demand, reduces strain on long-distance transmission.
Scale storage and flexible demand. 250+ GW of battery storage and virtual power plants can shave peaks, improve reliability, and reduce the total build required.
Expand in-region transmission rapidly. About 6,500 miles per year of new regional lines, plus expanded HVDC capacity, to bring new generation online and relieve congestion.
Connect regional seams. A national transmission backbone that allows power to move from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.
Over 90% of Summit attendees surveyed expressed support for the Grid Vision Plan and committed to pushing for Congressional action on permitting reform.
Asked whether the U.S. is on track to meet demand growth over the next 10 years, respondents rated current readiness 2.1 out of 5.
The message on the next steps for OpenMinds was unambiguous: implement the Grid Vision plan, and move fast.
OpenMinds and partners are moving across six fronts:
Distributing the Grid Vision Plan broadly
Inform policy to expedite transmission optimization and build
Advancing AI grid planning with Microsoft and ThinkLabs
Deploying ATTs with EPRI, Quanta, and RMI
Accelerating shovel-ready interconnect projects with Grid Strategies
Developing a Speed to Power Loop with Utility and IPP partners
To view and download the Grid Vision Plan, use either of the links below.
The Grid Vision Action Plan - Summary (15 slides)
The Grid Vision Action Plan - Full (51 slides)
If you read it and want to share feedback or talk through what it means for your work, we want to hear from you.
On May 27 at 11AM ET / 10AM CT, we’re hosting a live webinar to walk through Grid Vision, take questions from the network, and discuss what implementation looks like over the next 12 months. If you want to engage directly with the team and the plan, this is the place to do it.
As always, we are grateful for your support and available to respond to your questions. Please reply to this email if you want to connect.
OpenMinds co-founders
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