Change 4 mindsets to build a more resilient US grid: NERC CEO Jim Robb — SkimNews
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- Jim Robb, president and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), warns the US has not demonstrated the ability to build electric infrastructure at a pace that can keep up with projected demand from AI data centers, electrification policies, demographic changes, and industrial growth.
- NERC is working "at breakneck pace" to identify criteria for the "most consequential large computational loads" and the appropriate performance requirements so data centers act as reliable grid participants, Robb wrote.
- The Electric Power Research Institute is developing a standardized load-flexibility framework called Flex MOSAIC to bring consistency to the ability to curtail energy use of large loads when needed for grid reliability.
- Industry forecasts project more than $1 trillion is needed to modernize the US electric grid and enable growth over the next four to five years, Robb said.
- Electricity currently represents just under 20% of end-use energy consumption and is bound to increase as transportation, heating, and certain industrial processes electrify.
- Robb argues the US must shift mindsets on four fronts: enabling responsible siting and permitting, treating load as an active grid participant rather than an exogenous variable, building a diversified technology mix rather than chasing lowest-cost options, and weighing grid investment's societal benefits alongside affordability concerns.
Why it matters: Robb — the head of the organization that oversees the US bulk power system — is publicly flagging that data centers with energy needs comparable to large cities are arriving faster than regulators, utilities, and grid operators can adapt, putting the AI buildout and electrification push on a collision course with infrastructure that cannot be permitted and built fast enough. The $1 trillion-plus tab over the next four to five years will fall on ratepayers, utilities, and federal policy if growth forecasts hold.
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