Investing in the Smart Grid
Zolaikha Strong is Director of Energy Policy and Electrical Markets for the Copper Development Association. She is an energy executive with a proven track record creating and directing strategic initiatives aligning federal and state policy, regulation and legislation to grow energy markets across electrical sectors impacting generation, transmission, and distribution systems, such as the integration of renewable energy, energy storage, EVs, and grid modernization. She is the Director of Energy Policy and Electrical Markets leading the North American Clean Energy Transition for the global Copper Alliance.
A century ago, America advanced an interconnecting network creating a grid to deliver electricity across the nation, recognizing electric utilities for providing a public good. Investment in the grid spurred expansion, innovation, and a better quality of life for all.
Around the same time, the world also faced a pandemic — the Spanish Flu. A century later, we're facing a different pandemic that is disrupting our usual way of life, including the grid. By investing now in the smart grid, we can prepare our country for the next century and whatever it may bring.
Our pandemic of today — COVID-19 — has put a spotlight on worker safety, especially those who are deemed essential. This of course includes utility workers, who power every part of our economy. Protecting employees is of paramount concern, but outdated technology makes it difficult to do so.