Building an Interregional Transmission Overlay for a Resilient U.S. Grid

Examining how a U.S. Interregional Transmission Overlay could address aging grid infrastructure, surging demand, and renewable integration challenges.

What Attendees will Learn

1. Why the current regional grid structure is approaching its limits - Explore how coal-fired generation retirements, renewable integration, aging infrastructure past its 50-year lifespan, and exponential large-load growth from data centers and manufacturing reshoring are creating unprecedented pressure on the U.S. transmission system.
2. How an Interregional Transmission Overlay (ITO) would work - Understand the architecture of a high-capacity overlay using HVDC and 765 kV EHVAC technologies, how it would bridge the East/West/ERCOT seams, integrate renewable generation from resource-rich regions to demand centers, and potentially reduce electric system costs by hundreds of billions of dollars through 2050.
3. The five major challenges facing interregional transmission - Examine the obstacles of cross-state planning coordination, investment barriers including permitting and cost allocation, energy market harmonization across regions, supply chain limitations for specialized equipment, and political and regulatory uncertainties that must be navigated.
4. Actionable steps to begin building the ITO roadmap - Learn how utilities and developers can identify strategic corridors, form multi-stakeholder oversight entities, coordinate regional studies, secure state and federal support through FERC Order 1920 and DOE programs, and develop equitable cost allocation frameworks to move from vision to implementation.