America is in the midst of its most electricity-intensive period in recent history, but our power system isn’t ready.
Debra Phillips
President and CEO, National Electrical Manufacturers Association
U.S. electricity demand is projected to grow 55 percent by 2050. In the next decade alone, data center electricity consumption is expected to surge by roughly 300 percent, driven by artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and the digital infrastructure that underpins our economy and national security.
Electrical manufacturers are doing their part to meet demand, investing more than $185 billion in U.S. facilities since 2018, with tens of billions more planned. That money represents half of recent U.S. manufacturing investments. These investments are real and durable. More are coming.
But none of it scales — not factories, not data centers, not next-generation industry — if reliable, affordable electricity can’t be delivered on time.
That’s the quiet constraint on American competitiveness: the grid is becoming the bottleneck.
Building new generation and transmission remains essential, but major infrastructure projects can take years to permit, finance, and construct. Industry leaders have warned that complex regulatory approvals and unpredictable interconnection timelines are pushing critical grid capacity years behind schedule.
In an economy moving at digital speed, that delay is unacceptable. The good news: We don’t have to wait.
The potential of grid-enhancing technologies
Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) are built by electrical manufacturers — hardware and digital upgrades that help operators safely move more electricity over existing infrastructure. They’re available today, including dynamic line rating sensors, advanced conductors, power flow controllers, digital substations, and advanced distribution management systems.
Instead of waiting a decade for new corridors, GETs unlock hidden capacity on infrastructure already in the ground. Reconductoring — replacing aging transmission lines with advanced composite-core conductors — can dramatically increase line capacity while staying within existing rights-of-way. Dynamic line rating uses real-time data to safely move more electricity based on weather and line conditions. Power flow controls and digital grid tools reduce congestion and improve visibility, enabling operators to use the system closer to its true capability.
Crucially, GETs deploy quickly. Many can be implemented in months, not years, delivering near-term capacity relief at lower cost than traditional expansion. And the economics are compelling: a PJM-focused analysis finds that GETs could convert congestion into 6–7 gigawatts of additional usable capacity and deliver $7 billion in system-wide power production cost savings over six years, far exceeding upfront installation costs.
For manufacturers, this is not an abstract reliability debate. You cannot add a production line or site a facility where power is trapped behind congestion or stalled in an interconnection queue. Data centers cannot locate where capacity is constrained. Speed to power is speed to growth.
The path forward is clear. America must pursue a dual strategy: continue building long-lead infrastructure while immediately maximizing the grid we already have. Congress and regulators should accelerate GETs deployment by prioritizing proven technologies in federal programs, modernizing planning rules, and streamlining interconnection for upgrades that deliver measurable grid benefits.
Bottom line: We can let a 20th-century grid slow a 21st-century economy, or we can deploy grid-enhancing technologies at scale and deliver the power American industry needs.
