The Grid is Old and Tired. Let’s Make it Bold and Wired.

By: John Szoka, Conservative Energy Network & Christina Hayes, Grid Action

On October 6th, President Trump looked across the Resolute Desk and called America’s grid “old and tired”. He was right. The machine that powers our economy, the network that lights homes, keeps factories running, and secures our defenses, is showing its age. It’s no exaggeration to say our future depends on America’s power grid, yet it is still operating on infrastructure that was designed for a past era.

If we are going to unleash American innovation and unlock American energy dominance, we must act now to streamline permitting and unlock the grid modernization our economy demands. Put simply, we need a future that is “bold and wired”.

New polling of likely voters in key states tells a clear story: more than 85 percent of voters are concerned about rising electricity costs, roughly three-quarters believe the grid must be expanded, and roughly two in three voters support the idea of adding new transmission lines to connect new energy sources and strengthen grid reliability. Transmission is no longer a niche concern; it is rapidly becoming a kitchen-table issue in red and blue states alike.

Modernization must begin from the grid up. This means expanding the network of interregional wires and deploying grid enhancing technologies to reliably deliver affordable energy to all customers. We need our grid to do more than just survive, we need it to thrive.

Grid modernization does not mean replacing the entire transmission system overnight, but it does mean we plan and build for the future. It means ensuring America has the capacity to deliver more reliable and affordable power to our factories, data centers, hospitals, and homes. It means creating a 21^st Century grid that is able to withstand threats from malicious foreign actors and unpredictable severe weather events.

We can’t keep building for the America we used to be. We have to build for the America we want to become.

The current federal permitting system is not fit for this era of rapidly rising demand for electricity. Projects often get bogged down in approval processes that can take a decade or more. Meanwhile, global competitors like China are aggressively building out their grid infrastructure while America stalls. The root barrier to addressing this urgent need is not engineering, it is permitting and red tape. That is simply unacceptable.

This is where permitting reform becomes essential. Bills like the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 offer a policy template that should be considered by this Congress: consolidate review timelines, give clear direction to federal agencies, preserve local landowner input, and reduce uncertainty for private investment. Simplifying the permitting process does not mean abandoning oversight, rather it applies principles of efficiency, competition, and accountability to the most pressing infrastructure challenge of our time.

We cannot afford to continue talking about the issue without doing anything about it. That is why our organizations, the Conservative Energy Network and Grid Action, joined together to bring conservative state policy leaders and grid experts to meetings with our nation’s decision makers earlier this month. The message was clear: Americans across the country are united in demanding action to ensure our grid is strong and secure.

This collection of voices from across the country stressed that when permitting reform works, so does the grid. Costs go down. Reliability improves. Local American jobs increase from construction to manufacturing to ongoing operations. Even better, the economic opportunity unlocked by increased electric availability provides even more jobs. Most importantly, our grid’s resilience will be able to keep up with dramatically rising demand for electricity.

The stakes are high, and the time is now. To remain competitive in the ongoing global race for artificial intelligence leadership, the United States must both generate more energy and build the transmission capacity to deliver it wherever innovation demands.

Failure to modernize the grid would not be just a missed opportunity, it would be a national liability. It would weaken national security, undermine affordability, and place the American economy at a strategic disadvantage. The recent election results, coupled with consistent polling shows voters are aware of the problem – and they want action.

Conservative state leaders and federal policymakers need to work together to solve this. They must deliver permitting reform that moves beyond partisan standoffs, resolves real bottlenecks, and unleashes the private sector’s capacity to build. By empowering states, honoring landowners, and encouraging investment, we can close the gap between today’s grid and tomorrow’s needs.

From the Hoover Dam to the interstate highway system, America’s infrastructure has long been the envy of the world. Now, it is time to build again. If we build well for the future, we will produce a more connected grid that reflects America’s greatness and ambition. We will build a grid boldly wired to propel America’s future success.