Climate Changed
No Sales Growth? No Problem! Utilities See Money in Grid Repairs
- Power utilities touting “grid mod” as way to keep growing
- Companies finding it harder to justify building absent growth
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Faced with stagnant sales, big power companies say they can still grow in the U.S. by investing billions in upgrading their grids to accommodate renewables and protect against extreme weather events.
Utilities are dubbing the improvements “grid modernization” -- “grid mod” for short -- and it’s been a topic of conversation among executives at the Edison Electric Institute’s Financial Conference in Orlando, Florida, this week.