Severe thunderstorms knocking out power to 1 million Texans did not stop attendees at a NERC-EPRI workshop on a draft standard addressing extreme weather’s effects on transmission planning.

The burgeoning power demand from data centers and artificial intelligence can be met by other means than new natural gas-fired power plants, according to a new report from the Electric Power Research Institute.

States participating in the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative have committed to supporting the adoption of advanced grid solutions that expand capacity and add capabilities to existing and new transmission and distribution lines.

Streamlining and accelerating permitting is just one of the potential uses DOE envisions for AI to accelerate the U.S. power system’s transition to 100% clean energy and the modern, efficient, secure grid needed to reach that goal by 2035.

As utilities and regulators face unprecedented growth in power demand, figuring out how to plan and finance distribution systems has become a fast-moving target, according to speakers at the GridWise Alliance gridCONNEXT conference.

The use of hydrogen, both for transportation fuel and blended into natural gas, is a hot topic among engineers and power producers.

Parag Mitra of EPRI warned that the growth of data centers and cryptocurrency mining has created new risks for system modelers.

Load flexibility is the fastest and cheapest way to prepare for rising electricity demand, panel participants at a CEC-EPRI conference said.