The renewable revolution has pushed the conversation of transmission infrastructure to the front of the energy industry's mind. With an upgrade to electricity generation comes the need to refresh the aging nerves of civilization's power system. Utilities, power generators, and governments have all recognized this.
Yet, according to the latest National Transmission Needs Study by the U.S. Department of Energy, the renewable energy revolution has created obstacles to supplying the necessary transmission to the county's power system.
"Transmission planning is becoming more difficult and complex as clean energy resources proliferate," the study reads. "And as the adoption and integration of new distributed and variable resources affect the performance and capabilities required at the bulk power system.
"...Although it may be a paradigm shift compared to traditional operations, leveraging technology to increase an operator's visibility, and understanding of the power system flows and capabilities on critical components should actually improve grid security, not jeopardize reliability."
It seems that the government is calling for a more coordinated approach to building out renewable generation and distributed energy resources, and that without that coordinated approach, transmission planning will always be playing catch up with new technologies.