Grid (un)locked: Carbon neutral future depends on updating how we make, move and store electricity

In the push to decarbonize the economy throughout the Intermountain West and beyond, the public conversation often centers on wind and solar energy, electric cars, hydrogen power and carbon capture and storage. The grid—the interconnected power plants, transmission lines and control centers that keep the lights on across the country—is the indispensable enabler of this future carbon-neutral electrified world. Yet the grid is often left out of the discussion.
It shouldn’t be.