Editor’s note: This piece was adapted from a recent report from Energy Innovation, titled Grid reliability in the clean energy transition: A primer for policymakers.
The Trump administration’s “energy emergency” is stoking fears that the United States is running out of power. To hear the president tell it, the country is primed to experience crippling outages (or worse) if we fail to build more fossil fueled power plants.
However, as the Winter Storms Uri and Elliott taught us, fossil fuels are not immune to failure under extreme weather conditions. They are also increasingly costly — and damage both our lungs, and our climate.
With growing demand for electricity and the increasing frequency of climate disasters, building a resilient future-proofed electric grid today requires a more nuanced approach — one that is grounded in the facts, reputable research, and proven real-world examples.
Near-term steps and solutions include prioritizing deployment of clean energy resources, increasing transmission capacity, activating strategic demand-side solutions, and supporting ongoing research in carbon-free energy technologies.
Not your grandfather’s electric grid
Across the U.S., old and expensive fossil resources are starting to retire, right as demand for electricity is increasing after nearly two decades of flat growth. At the same time, polar vortexes and heat domes driven by climate change are causing unanticipated spikes in electricity demand and compromising grid stability.
Meanwhile, over 2.6 terawatts of new clean energy resources (mainly wind, solar, and battery storage) — nearly double the grid’s current capacity — are stuck in utility interconnection queues awaiting approval to connect and provide much-needed electricity.
Although an inherently slow-moving entity, the power system is no stranger to evolution. In the early 2000s, a combination of cheap natural gas due to the shale boom, advancements in gas turbine technology, changing economics, and regulations led to a shift from coal to natural gas power. From 2007 to 2023, the share of coal generation within total U.S. electricity production declined from 50% to 16%, gas generation nearly doubled from 21% to 43%, and wind and solar grew from less than 1%to 15%.
Fast-falling wind and solar prices have made them the cheapest new electricity resources, and cost reductions for utility-scale battery storage technologies have exceeded forecasts year-over-year; in 2024, the amount of battery storage installed nationwide doubled. That same year, wind, solar, and batteries made up 93% of the new electricity resources added to the grid.
Today, clean energy resources are keeping the lights on affordably and reliably. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s frenetic actions may block proven technologies from connecting to the grid — and ultimately threaten grid reliability and increase energy costs. States, utilities, and grid operators should stay the course and remain confident in the clean energy transition underway.
Clean electricity is reliably powering grids around the world
In 2023, the U.S. generated 40% of its electricity from carbon-free sources. Wind and solar generated 15%; both are now the country’s cheapest sources of electricity, and the fastest growing sources of new generation. The other quarter came from other carbon-free sources including nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy.
This transition has required an adjustment for grid operators — but the experiment has largely been a successful one. It has become clear that large grids operating with high penetrations of carbon-free renewable energy stay reliable.
For instance, large grids in the Midwest, Texas, and California regularly operate using more than 70%renewable energy, and individual states run on much higher percentages of renewables than the country as a whole. Iowa and South Dakota generated roughly 60%of all their electricity in 2023 from wind power alone.
Meanwhile, Hawaii is already operating using entirely renewable power for days at a time; beyond the U.S., the same is true of South Australia and Denmark. These jurisdictions have adjusted their planning and operating practices to integrate higher penetrations of renewable energy and battery storage without compromising reliability.
Researchers have explored deep decarbonization scenarios through detailed power system simulations and agree that the U.S. can achieve 80% to 90% clean electricity generation using existing technologies alone. Although we may not yet know what carbon-free technologies will provide the last 10% to 20%, research and development efforts are already underway.
Rather than peddling fear and exaggerations, we should stay focused on building a diversified electric grid capable of responding to a rapidly changing world. Outdated views on grid reliability and slow-moving institutions pose a far greater threat to a resilient grid than any single technology or resource.
Smart policies and regulations will ensure a long-term reliable, affordable grid
Although no single technology can meet electricity needs alone, the grid has never relied on a single technology. The fact remains that slow, costly solutions like large fossil or nuclear plants simply cannot meet near-term capacity needs and circumvent pragmatic limitations.
Technical promise is no match for inadequate policies and market rules that stifle the development of viable resources needed for a reliable grid.
Rather than wait for a moonshot technology to save the day, policymakers should view those reliable grids — with high penetration of renewables — with confidence that a dynamic, and increasingly carbon-free electricity system can keep the lights on and stay resilient in the face of extreme weather, even as electricity demand grows.
Utilities should invest in a diverse portfolio of clean demand- and supply-side resources capable of supporting an affordable, reliable, and carbon-free grid for all customers, while continuing to learn new ways of operating a diverse and resilient resource portfolio.
Specifically, policymakers and utility regulators should take advantage of flexible demand-side resources, adopt grid-enhancing technologies for transmission, clear queue backlogs and expedite new generation interconnections. Simultaneously, they should continue supporting the pursuit of long-term needs, like new transmission and clean firm energy.
As has already been underway for more than a quarter-century, accelerating the addition of clean energy resources will only increase grid reliability and ensure affordability. In the next evolution of the grid, decision-makers should embrace an evolved understanding of the grid — and the many reliable solutions that are already available today.
Sara Baldwin is the senior director of Energy Innovation’s electrification policy program. The opinions represented in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Latitude Media or any of its staff.
