The vast network of power plants, transmission lines and distribution systems forms the backbone of our nation's energy infrastructure, delivering electricity to homes, businesses and factories.

Our power generation and transmission infrastructure is showing its age — brownouts have become routine in California — and rebuilding and modernizing the grid will require manufacturing capacity of its own. Luckily, we're starting to see those projects take shape.

This is JP Hampstead, co-host of the Bring It Home podcast with Craig Fuller. Welcome to the 15th edition of our newsletter, which explains how the movement of electrons across transmission lines helps power the movement of atoms everywhere else.

The U.S. electrical grid is a marvel of engineering, spanning millions of miles and connecting thousands of power plants to millions of end-users. It's a complex system that must maintain a delicate balance between supply and demand, ensuring that electricity is available whenever and wherever it's needed. This system doesn't just feed constant demand but has to respond to complex market dynamics impacted by weather and generation capacity.

In recent years, our grid has come under increasing stress. Extreme weather events, from hurricanes to winter storms, have exposed vulnerabilities in the system. The Texas blackouts of 2021 served as a stark reminder of the grid's fragility after it left millions without power for days. These events have highlighted the urgent need for modernization and increased resilience in our energy infrastructure.

But it's not just natural disasters putting pressure on the grid. The rise of artificial intelligence and a domestic manufacturing boom have sent electricity demand skyrocketing after more than a decade of level use. According to recent projections, electricity demand is expected to increase by a staggering 128 gigawatts over the next five years – that's five times greater than what was anticipated just two years ago. This surge in demand is being driven by the rapid expansion of data centers, the electrification of transportation and the revitalization of American manufacturing.

The energy needs of the United States are set to take off in the near future. As we race to compete with global powers like China in advanced technologies and manufacturing, reliable and abundant electricity becomes more crucial than ever. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) has highlighted the need for an additional 35 GW of transfer capability across the United States – equivalent to the output of roughly 35 nuclear power plants – to strengthen energy adequacy under extreme conditions and alleviate shortfalls during weather events.