Technology Corridor

EPRI challenges the industry to modernize the grid.

At a time when a secure and reliable electricity infrastructure should be one of our highest priorities, we find ourselves with a system that is increasingly vulnerable to power quality problems and to intrusion, both natural and man-made. The constraints on utility investment that have brought us to this state must be released so that we can move forward to enable a truly digital society and economy.

The reliability of our power supply needs to be fundamentally improved. Consumers are paying an increasingly high price in terms of unreliability, largely driven by the digital revolution. Computer technology is driving assembly lines and process control, and all the things in the flow of commerce. The cost of power disruptions, small and large, has grown to about $100 billion a year, or in effect a 50-cent surcharge for every dollar spent on electricity-a cost that is buried in the cost of goods and services. It can be eliminated.

Certainly, policy confusion depresses the financial health of the industry, and investment abhors uncertainty. You don't want to put your money in a venture when you don't know whether or not you're going to get it back. The system today makes it very difficult to justify investment because the rules are not clear and they're subject to almost whimsical change. That is not a situation that can be tolerated.