Today, a new coalition was launched to address growing electricity demand and rising energy bills in the United States.
Usage brings together businesses, utilities and policy organizations to promote smarter, faster and more affordable use of existing grid infrastructure – allowing states to meet the growing demands of data centers, manufacturing and electrification without unnecessary costs or delays. The coalition’s founding members include Carrier, Google, Renew Home, Sparkfund, Span, Verrus and Tesla, representing a broad cross-section of distributed energy providers, major electricity customers and technology companies that enable the electric grid.
“For decades, we have built the grid to meet peak demand, even as large portions of it remain unused most hours of the year,” said Ian Magruder, executive director of Utilize. “It’s like building an airplane that only flies with full passengers a few times a year. That excess capacity is hidden in plain sight, and new technologies give us the opportunity to unlock it. Better use of the electric grid is one of the quickest and most practical levers states can pull to lower energy bills while supporting economic growth.”
Utilize is designed as a nonpartisan, state-focused coalition that works with governors, legislatures, utilities, regulators and stakeholders across the political spectrum. The coalition supports technology-neutral policies that increase network use by aligning planning, incentives and regulatory frameworks around affordability, reliability and speed. The coalition will work directly with states to help translate research into action, and will work with policymakers, industry, utilities and consumer interests to ensure that better grid utilization becomes a core tenet of modern grid planning.
To illustrate the magnitude of these opportunities, Utilize will soon release new, independent research conducted by The Brattle Group that will show that American consumers could save more than $100 billion on their electric bills over ten years as a result of improvements in system utilization. Increased use will also enable economic growth by allowing new electricity consumers to connect to the grid more quickly.
“Battery storage and distributed energy resources are already demonstrating how smarter use of the grid can improve affordability. These technologies can help meet demand during the most limited hours, while avoiding the need for additional investments in generation and grid infrastructure,” said Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy at Tesla. “With the right policy frameworks, these resources can reduce costs for customers while strengthening network reliability.”
“As demand grows, the priority must be meeting new needs without driving up costs for existing customers. Google is proud to support Utilize’s work to unlock underutilized capacity so that growth in electricity demand translates into broader affordability and system benefits,” said Ellen Zuckerman, head of energy market development for the Americas at Google.
Research shows that the chance is considerable. A recent analysis from Duke University Research from 22 regional energy systems in the US found that the electric grid is operating at just 53% of capacity on average, meaning that generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure is underutilized for much of the year. The study estimates that 76 to 215 GW of additional demand could be delivered on existing systems while remaining below historical peak conditions for a limited number of hours, illustrating how improved grid utilization can help serve new loads without immediately requiring major new infrastructure investments.
Underutilization is also visible in the transmission system. A Study from Stanford University of the Western U.S. electric grid found that even during peak periods, most transmission lines were carrying only 18 to 52% of their available capacity, with the majority at around 30% utilization. These findings indicate that significant transmission capacity already exists but is not consistently accessible due to operational and planning constraints, making grid deployment a critical tool to meet new demand and spread fixed grid costs over increased electricity sales.
In an early policy victory, some Utilize members supported Virginia’s Grid Utilization Act (SB 621/HB 434), a statewide requirement that major utilities quantify how much of the grid is actually being used and incorporate these metrics into the State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) regulatory planning and review. The legislation would direct the SCC and utilities to establish network usage metrics and use them to inform future network investment decisions. The measure passed with bipartisan support and now awaits Governor Spanberger’s signature. Utilize is already engaging governors and legislators in other states who have expressed interest in adopting this approach.
News item from Use
