Strengthen Grid Reliability and Security

Strengthen Grid Reliability and Security icon

The Facts

Fortifying America’s electric grid is critical to the reliable and secure delivery of electricity. Under President Trump’s Executive Order, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency,” the Department will identify and exercise all lawful authorities to strengthen the nation’s grid, including the backbone of the grid, our transmission system. This is an imperative as we consider current and anticipated load growth on our nation’s electric utilities. Moreover, after two decades of very slow demand growth, electricity demand is forecast to soar in the coming years. The Department will bring a renewed focus to growing baseload and dispatchable generation to reliably meet growing demand.

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U.S. Department of Energy

Building the Future

Modernize: Updated critical infrastructure with advanced technologies including microgrids, energy storage systems, and smart grid capabilities to enhance system resilience against physical threats, cyberattacks, and extreme weather events

Cybersecurity: Implement comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks specifically designed for energy sector operational technology, including threat detection systems, information sharing protocols, and regular security exercises to protect against evolving digital threats

Rapid Response: Establish strategic reserves of critical components (like large power transformers) and develop cross-utility mutual assistance agreements to ensure rapid response and recovery capabilities following major disruptions

Advanced Research: Advance research in grid modeling, artificial intelligence applications, and self-healing technologies to better predict vulnerabilities, optimize operations, and automatically isolate faults to prevent cascading failures

Coordination: Strengthen coordination between federal agencies, state regulators, utilities, and interdependent sectors (natural gas, water, telecommunications) to align reliability standards, share threat intelligence, and address complex cross-sector dependencies

Other Priorities