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Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020

Is an aging electrical grid making it harder to take advantage of growing solar capacity?

Emanuela Podda Ankrom, Gigafact
yes

Much of the U.S. electricity grid needs to be modernized in order to accommodate more sustainable energy sources, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The existing energy-transmission infrastructure remains set up to connect large centralized generating plants. Taking advantage of growing, widely distributed solar capacity requires new controls and communications systems, in addition to added storage capacity.

Major utilities have found it difficult to gain regulators' support for the investments required, and "often struggle with the sheer complexity of the transformation required," a Boston Consulting Group study notes.

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