The capital costs for new gas combustion turbine (CT) and combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants in the United States have increased significantly in recent years. While anecdotes of these higher costs are becoming more common, the specific data isoften difficult to access. Much of the most current...

Through a collaboration with RMI, Tata Power, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Electric Power Research Institute, and Vaisala, GridLab is developing datasets and tools that can support power system planning for India...

Smarter deployment of home batteries, electric vehicle chargers, and smart thermostats can help avoid costly grid upgrades up to $13.7 billion in savings for California. The study identified that strategically harnessing distributed energy resources to meet the state’s goal of 3.5 GW of load shift by 2030 can avoid significant distribution system upgrade costs...

Transmission expansion can unlock new lower cost generation, increase system reliability, and reduce pollution. For this reason, it is important for energy advocates of all types to understand and engage in their region’s transmission planning process...

In 2024, Energy Strategies, in partnership with GridWorks and GridLab, completed the Connected West study, an unprecedented long-term western US transmission plan based on high load growth and high energy system decarbonization. One of the scenarios tested in this study was a strategy based on maximizing the use of composite core or "High Performance Conductors." The techniques developed during this process were novel and this...

To face this pivotal moment in our energy history energy system planners and regulators need to better synthesize the worlds of electric generation and transmission. This report, "Right-Sizing Future Electric Transmission Systems," highlights that while unprecedented expansion will be necessary to increase reliability, maintain affordability, and meet new loads, smarter coordinated planning could optimize this effort...

In this collaboration between GridLab and Telos Energy, we evaluated resource adequacy across the Eastern Interconnection using the open-source modeling platform, GridPath, and publicly available datasets. With a near-term study year of 2028, we analyzed the role of interregional transmission in mitigating loss of load risk across diverse regions under varying system conditions. The results highlight how coordinated planning and regional diversity can enhance reliability...

This fact sheet provides critical insights from a study that evaluated resource adequacy across the Eastern Interconnection using the open-source modeling platform, GridPath. With a near-term study year of 2028, we analyzed the role of interregional transmission in mitigating loss of load risk across diverse regions under varying system conditions...

This report provides a novel methodology for planning regional transmission system upgrades using advanced conductors (ACs) and evaluates their impact on the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) transmission system's reliability and stability. The study highlights that reconductoring existing lines with ACs offers a cost-effective and time-saving solution to expand transmission capacity by utilizing existing infrastructure. The proposed framework is vendor-agnostic and compatible with various industry-standard transmission...

These slides were presented by Derek Stenclik and Sam Hostetter of Telos Energy at a webinar hosted by the Energy Systems Integration Group on July 1 2025. The material is based on a study in which resource adequacy across the Eastern Interconnection was evaluated for 2028. A primary focus of the study was to analyze the role of interregional transmission in mitigating loss of load...

This slidedeck summarizes a study conducted by Telos Energy in which we evaluated resource adequacy across the Eastern Interconnection using the open-source modeling platform, GridPath, and publicly available datasets. With a near-term study year of 2028, we analyzed the role of interregional transmission in mitigating loss of load risk across diverse regions under varying system conditions...

The practice of requiring long-term firm point-to-point transmission rights for new generators in the Pacific Northwest traditionally supported reliability for utilities that rely on BPA transmission, but has not adapted well to an environment with increasing penetrations of renewable resources. This paper describes reforms to planning and procurement processes Northwest utilities could pursue to make better use of the existing transmission system and their portfolios...

Grid-Forming (GFM) Inverters GFM have received a lot of attention recently in power system organizations including NERC. The technology promises to address many of the stability issues facing the transmission system as the resource mix moves from spinning assets to inverter based resources. However, uptake of the technology has remained muted, even in the case of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) where the marginal...

This report describes the transmission system reliability risks associated with the retirement of synchronous generators, such as coal and natural gas plants, and the shift towards inverter-based resources like solar PV and battery energy storage systems (BESS). It highlights the essential reliability services provided by synchronous generators, including frequency control, voltage stability, and short-circuit current contributions, which are crucial for maintaining a stable and reliable...

This report provides an outline of the current state of Large Load interconnections including data centers. It includes recommended questions for regulators and utilities to develop more robust interconnection processes. It also provides template data collection forms that can be used when requesting data from new large loads...

Surplus interconnection refers to the practice of allowing new electricity supply resources to connect to the grid using the same interconnection rights that have already been allocated to existing generators.7 As outlined in the Surplus Interconnection Technical Whitepaper, hundreds of gigawatts (GW) of power plants across the United States are not fully using the interconnection service originally granted to them.8 Many fossil power plants have...

The U.S. electric grid is facing a triple threat of rising rates, rapid demand growth, and increasing reliability risks. These issues have wide ranging impacts on the future of America’s economic growth, industrial competitiveness, and national defense. Meanwhile, there remain challenges to quickly bring enough power generation online to meet these threats and ensure the lights stay...

The power grid has emerged as the primary bottleneck to meeting growing electricity demand with low-cost clean energy. Demand for electricity—and especially clean electricity—has soared, driven by electrification in various sectors, the rise of data centers for artificial intelligence (AI), and booming investment in clean tech and domestic manufacturing. Simultaneously...

MANAGING GRID RELIABILITY IN A CHANGING WORLD Summers and winters are introducing new grid reliability risks in the form of extreme heat and cold, both exacerbated by the climate crisis.12 Heat waves cause people and businesses to crank their air conditioners for relief, spiking electricity demand and adding stress to the grid, while overheated lines and dry foliage can cause wildfires...

How much solar power capacity is available in the wholesale power market managed by the California Independent System Operator? According to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) as of 11/07/2024 there were 19,853 megawatts (MW) of solar generation connected to the CAISO grid. As of 7/01/2019 there were 12,049 MW of solar connected...

As part of the “Reliably Reaching California’s Clean Electricity Targets” study, concurrent wind and solar resource data was used to project the generation at renewable energy sites throughout California and the broader WECC area. The concurrent data spanned the period 2007 through 2014. During this period, when projected renewable generation was compared with expected load, three periods...

Capacity expansion models are the primary method for developing resource portfolios in electricity planning exercises, including integrated resource plans and transmission plans. These models are complex and imperfect, primarily because investments in the electricity...

Capacity expansion modeling is a crucial part of power system planning. It’s the foundation of the utility’s IRP, setting a roadmap for net investments, retirements, and meeting policy goals of renewable energy production or emissions reductions. It also serves a central role for deregulated markets, ensuring that independent system...

Power system planning has grown in both importance and challenges in recent years. In parallel with rapid integration of variable renewable energy sources and storage, the electric industry is facing rising load growth, evolving weather and natural disaster risks, and increasing operational complexity...

One of the pressing challenges of the clean energy transition is that getting needed new sources of electricity supply are being stymied by a combination of multi-year delays in the interconnection study process, supply chain constraints, and siting and permitting challenges...

Connected West is a 20-year transmission planning study aimed at forecasting long-range transmission infrastructure needs of the Western grid required to support a highly decarbonized and electrified economy. The study focuses on identifying “next generation” transmission investments, targeting the identification of portfolios of new transmission expansion projects that represent investment above and beyond upgrades that have been previously proposed by Western utilities...

In this latest installment, the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) provides a review of California’s transmission planning, interconnection, and permitting processes so far in 2024. This report focuses on recent California...

The primary objective of the Montana resource adequacy (RA) assessment is to identify capacity needs for NorthWestern Energy (NWE) in the next 5-7 years given resource plan uncertainties and evolving coordination opportunities through the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP). NWE is currently one of 22 participating utilities in WRAP, a regional reliability coordination program in the Western Power Pool (WPP). Resource...

California’s Senate Bill 100 sets targets of 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. In December of 2020, the California Agencies SB100 report indicated that this timeline could be accelerated in a cost-effective manner; however it noted that the reliability impacts of an accelerated...

GridLab has requested Telos Energy to review the report by PJM Transmission and Operations Planning, titled “BESS Technical Viability - Wagner and Brandon Shores Retirements,” released May 3, 2024 and...

California needs new low-cost generation capacity. Virtual power plants can help. A GROWING PROBLEM California has narrowly avoided significant blackouts due to shortages in power supply on multiple occasions over the past few years. Factors contributing to this challenge include increasingly extreme weather events, dependence on intermittent forms of generation, reduced flexibility of hydro systems, and reduced availability of imports from...

Plummeting costs of clean energy and growing power demand from electrification, manufacturing, and data processing have made grid capacity one of the primary constraints in the energy transition. In the United States (U.S.), achieving the federal goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035...

Charting a Path for Greater Electrification on the Distribution System The CHARGED initiative was formed to support states as they electrify their transportation and building sectors, ensuring that the electricity distribution system is ready for this new era.Amidst a period of regulatory change and technical opportunity, it is imperative that the distribution system not only maintain...

There is broad consensus that successfully addressing the climate crisis will require electrification of the transportation and building sectors. Recognizing this need, some cities and states have begun to adopt electrification policies. Ensuring that the electric distribution system is ready for this future in a way that maintains customer affordability...

This study assessed the statewide market potential for virtual power plants (VPPs) in California in 2035. We describe the findings of the study in our Volume I summary report. This Volume II report details the modeling approach and assumptions underlying...

GridLab is a national non-profit that provides technical grid expertise to enhance policy decision-making and ensure a rapid transition to a reliable, cost-effective, and low-carbon energy future. This fact sheet looks at the Western Markets Exploratory Group...

In 2023, GridLab worked with Telos Energy to provide an analysis of replacing Maryland based coal plant Brandon Shores with a battery energy storage system (BESS). The Brandon Shores coal plant recently announced its plan to cease operation in mid-2025. However, upon study PJM found that the plant is needed to provide reliability to the Baltimore, Maryland area until a portfolio of new...

This study aims to explore how Montana’s resource adequacy risks are evolving in the near-term and mid-term given resource plan uncertainties and evolving regional coordination opportunities such as under the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP)...

The deployment of renewable energy in Texas, particularly wind and solar, has grown significantly over the past decade. Texas has almost as much wind capacity as the next four states combined1 and ERCOT recently...

The Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) has released two reports earlier this year on the need for expansion of the high voltage transmission system and for reform of the state’s permitting process to overcome delays in transmission project permitting and construction over the past decade...

Environmental Justice groups are concerned that California joining an expanded Western RTO could mean additional dispatch of gas plants in California, especially gas plants in disadvantaged communities...

Good afternoon Commissioners, Staff, and participants in this important conference. I’m Ric O’Connell, the executive director of GridLab. We are a public interest organization that provides technical assistance to regulators, with a particular focus on grid reliability...

The winter storm that hit Texas and the surrounding regions in February 2021 (often referred to as Winter Storm Uri) triggered one of the worst blackouts in recent history. In Texas, it was the first time that all 254 counties were under a winter storm warning at the same...

The existing transmission system represents decades of planning decisions that were made to suit different grid and market conditions from today’s. Michigan is situated in a unique geographical position since it is within, but on the edge of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, and has significant transmission...

The existing transmission system represents decades of planning decisions that were made to suit different grid and market conditions from today’s. Michigan is situated in a unique geographical position since it is within, but on the edge of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, and has significant transmission...

When policy discussions for the establishment of a west-wide resource adequacy program began in 2019, the leading indicators of western reliability risk were just beginning to emerge: long-planned thermal retirements, growing drought risk, and correlated heat events were increasingly dominant anxieties for utilities and regulators engaged on electric...

WRAP, a first-of-its-kind non-ISO regional Resource Adequacy program, represents a huge step forward toward regional reliability analysis, planning, and coordination for the non-CA West. WRAP has the potential to help address a major collective action problem for the region – the ability to proactively assess and drive...

Decarbonizing the power system is a central component of economy-wide decarbonization and climate mitigation. New Mexico is among several states that have set goals to fully decarbonize their power systems, setting a 100% clean electricity target. This study, called the “Moonshot study,” aimed to identify multiple technological pathways...

Although New Mexico is among several states that have set goals to fully decarbonize their power systems, most states have not yet conducted a detailed evaluation of how to achieve these targets. The original moonshot set an ambitious goal of sending humanity to the moon before the technology existed and without a known pathway to get there. Our 100% clean energy targets are similarly ambitious...

Although New Mexico is among several states that have set goals to fully decarbonize their power systems, most states have not yet conducted a detailed evaluation of how to achieve these targets. The original moonshot set an ambitious goal of sending humanity to the moon before the technology existed and without a known pathway to get there. Our 100% clean energy targets are similarly ambitious...