A recent S&P Global Commodity Insights report outlines a dramatic 50% surge of new U.S. electricity demand through 2040. Meeting this demand—and avoiding a national energy emergency—is key to achieving U.S. strategic aims. To do that, we need every available electron, delivered reliably and at costs consumers can afford. This can only be achieved through significant grid investment.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright agrees: “Fortifying America’s electric grid is critical to the reliable and secure delivery of electricity.” Wright further stated: “This is an imperative as we consider current and anticipated load growth on our nation’s electric utilities.” The best way to modernize the grid is through interregional transmission lines – energy superhighways that can carry all forms of American-made energy. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) agrees with us here, too. NERC has called for an additional 35 gigawatts of U.S. interregional transmission. These lines make power more affordable, reliable, and secure. As the largest privately held independent power producer, Invenergy is leading the charge and building the largest single transmission project in United States history. Investments like this are critical to achieving U.S. energy dominance. Here’s why.
More abundant, affordable, reliable, and secure energy
After years of energy price inflation, it’s critical to keep the abundance of American energy affordable. We need enough energy supply to meet America’s growing demand while maintaining affordability, and we need enough transmission to move that power to where it’s needed. But we don’t need to overbuild. Despite U.S. energy abundance, we can’t move power to where it’s needed today—which results in higher electric bills for Americans. Grid investment expands overall system capacity to meet that demand in the most efficient and affordable way possible.
Expanding transmission between grid regions can save billions of dollars by avoiding utility bill hikes amid widespread power outages or energy supply crunches.
High-voltage direct current (HVDC) is ideally suited technology for connecting U.S. grid regions. It cost-effectively moves large quantities of power over long distances. It precisely controls power flows, and it pulls electricity from healthy grids to jumpstart failed grids with “blackstart” capability.
Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express is the largest transmission project in U.S. history. At 5 gigawatts of capacity, no project will have ever carried more power, and no project has ever connected four different U.S. grid regions. With an 800-mile HVDC span from Kansas to Indiana, Grain Belt Express will deliver $52 billion in energy cost savings while enhancing reliability for regions that serve 29 U.S. states and D.C. Unleashing all forms of American energy
Merchant transmission projects like Grain Belt Express are market based, bringing together willing buyers and sellers of electricity—including utilities, industrial energy users, power traders, grid operators, and power plant owners. Only direct users pay the costs, but the lines still deliver energy cost savings and reliability to all ratepayers across the broader energy system.
In contrast, most new transmission investments are centrally planned, and ratepayers in those regions foot the bill by default. For interregional transmission, multiple grid operators must agree on how to split costs for lines that connect regions, which has proven to be nearly impossible and has kept the U.S. from building needed interregional grid infrastructure. It’s delaying our nation from building much needed infrastructure to address the energy emergency. Here, independent merchant projects have a vital role to play.
Interregional merchant transmission projects like Grain Belt Express create new market connections through open access and are energy agnostic. Diverse power mixes flow between markets. In fact, there are over 8,000 megawatts of existing dispatchable generation facilities within 50 miles of Grain Belt Express points of interconnection. With customer demand shifting towards natural gas power, generation from these facilities can be delivered by the line and can even be expanded without further straining the existing grid.
Delivering power to win the AI race and revive manufacturing
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently said, “Winning the AI arms race doesn't just take software developers. It takes more electricity.” We fully agree. To power these strategic industries, win the global AI race, and ensure America’s national security, a reliable, resilient and secure grid is more critical than ever. Expanding U.S. transmission infrastructure will reduce our reliance on foreign energy sources and protect us from grid failure, attack, or natural disaster. Notably, Grain Belt Express can deliver enough power to serve 50 data centers while strengthening reliability for regions serving over 25% of U.S. Department of Defense installations. It’s also directly boosting domestic manufacturing, securing major supply deals with factories in Pennsylvania, Missouri, South Carolina, and Alabama. We need all available American-made energy to meet this moment and establish American energy dominance. For over two decades, Invenergy has been leading the industry with a broad portfolio of energy generation technologies. Today, Invenergy also has 11 gigawatts of new transmission capacity in development—representing roughly one-third of new U.S. HVDC transmission. We look forward to continuing our work with all state and federal partners to power savings and strengthen America.