Unlocking Power: A Playbook on Grid Enhancing Technologies for State and Regional Regulators and Policymakers

Our grid wasn’t built in a day, but the way we use and generate electricity is changing rapidly. We must adapt the power network built over 150 years to keep up with growing demand and allow continued access to the lowest-cost energy resources. The U.S. Department of Energy found that we need 57% more transmission capacity by 2035 – it would be too expensive and take too long to build that many new power lines, so the grid needs new technologies to unlock more from the grid we already have. Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) are hardware, software, or both that dynamically increase the capacity, efficiency, reliability, and safety of power lines faster and at lower cost than traditional grid infrastructure.