Hidden capacity: The overlooked opportunity in North America’s race for power — SkimNews
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- NERC projects US electricity consumption will rise from 4,281 TWh in 2024 to 5,353 TWh by 2034, driven by AI data centers, electric vehicles, industrial electrification, manufacturing expansion, and population growth.
- More than 2 TW of generation and storage capacity was sitting in US interconnection queues by mid-2026 — over double the country's current installed power capacity — while ERCOT alone received nearly 200 GW of large-load applications in Q1 2026.
- A Brattle analysis cited in the report estimates better utilization of the existing US power system could yield more than $100 billion in savings over the next decade by making fuller use of infrastructure that sits idle outside peak periods.
- Southwest Power Pool reported a 30% reduction in transmission planning time after modernizing its processes with advanced analytics, and FERC approved SPP's topology optimization plan in August 2026.
- MISO's earlier topology optimization efforts reportedly generated approximately $95 million in congestion-cost savings earlier in 2026.
- The report recommends a dual-track strategy — expanding transmission and distribution while simultaneously deploying digitalization, dynamic line ratings, advanced power flow controls, and power quality technologies to maximize existing assets.
Why it matters: With 2 TW of projects stuck in interconnection queues and demand climbing sharply, utilities that only chase new builds face multi-year delays. Operators that pair new infrastructure with digitalization and grid-enhancing technologies can cut planning time, reduce congestion costs (SPP and MISO have already banked concrete savings), and potentially pass meaningful cost relief to ratepayers while the bigger projects come online.
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