Accessibility links
Power Hungry: Reinventing The U.S. Electric Grid The nation's electricity grid is facing a crisis it's outdated and unprepared for increasing demand and a future that includes more renewable sources of energy. In a weeklong series, NPR is examining the state of the nation's electricity infrastructure.
Power Hungry: Electricity in America
Special Series

Power Hungry: Reinventing The U.S. Electric Grid

Series Overview: Electricity In America

In a series of stories airing this week on Morning Edition and All Things Considered and published here on NPR.org, we examine the costs, the politics and other challenges of upgrading the country's electricity grid.

Learn about NPR's series on the U.S. electric grid

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103417561/103423426" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

An Aged Electric Grid Looks To A Brighter Future

The nation's electricity grid is facing a crisis — it's outdated and unprepared for increasing demand and a future that includes more renewable sources of energy. A new digital smart grid is part of the picture envisioned by advocates, as is building new electricity infrastructure.

An Aged Electric Grid Looks To A Brighter Future

Listen · 5:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103327321/103516775" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Green Challenge: Make Renewables Reliable

Bringing renewable energies like wind and solar power onto the electric grid is the first step toward making the grid both green and smart, but engineers and power companies must also find solutions to the challenges of renewable energies, which don't produce consistent, reliable power.

A Green Challenge: Make Renewables Reliable

Listen · 5:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103526574/103546419" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Building Power Lines Creates A Web Of Problems

To create a new energy economy with much more solar and wind energy, thousands of miles of new transmission lines must be built across the nation. But finding suitable locations to place the lines is incredibly complicated without a federal body to oversee planning.

Building Power Lines Creates A Web Of Problems

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103537250/103559303" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Smart Meter Saves Big Bucks For Pa. Family

By installing a smart meter on her Pennsylvania home, Tammy Yeakel and her family are able to save nearly 20 percent on their electric bill each month. They can track their energy consumption in real time on a Web site provided by her power company, PPL.

Smart Meter Saves Big Bucks For Pa. Family

Listen · 5:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103437607/103584620" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The Challenge: Constant Current From Fickle Winds

In many remote areas of the country where wind is plentiful, no power is harnessed from the land because there aren't enough transmission lines to carry the electricity. And though the Plains offer untapped electrical potential, grid managers worry that the erratic nature of wind could make the grid unreliable.

The Challenge: Constant Current From Fickle Winds

Listen · 7:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103575144/103596909" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The Grid May Be Smart, But Will It Also Be Green?

The push is on to make the nation's aging electricity grid smarter, so it can handle our growing demand for electricity. Many assume that a smart grid will also be a green grid — delivering clean electricity and helping to address climate change. But that's not necessarily so.

The Grid May Be Smart, But Will It Also Be Green?

Listen · 6:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103415232/103618979" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Power Industry Sees New Phase In Energy Use

As plans are made to revamp the U.S. electric grid, many in the electric industry see their job as a simple one: to keep the lights on. But others, including Xcel Energy, are bringing smart grid technology — and new business challenges — to entire cities.

Power Industry Sees New Phase In Energy Use

Listen · 5:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103438965/103642512" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Young Workers Find Opportunity In Power Industry

A large sector of the work force that runs the electrical system in the U.S. is expected to retire soon, depleting the supply of workers to maintain the grid and keep the lights on. So power companies find themselves training new workers to repair and maintain some very antiquated equipment.

Young Workers Find Opportunity In Power Industry

Listen · 4:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103629929/103675970" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Could Energy Innovation Create A 'Green Bubble'?

The Obama administration has been heavily promoting the development of more renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar. In the wake of the housing bubble, some are speculating about whether a renewable energy bubble might be on the horizon.

Could Energy Innovation Create A 'Green Bubble'?

Listen · 4:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103631430/103698973" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

New Grid May Be Needed, But So Is Smarter Use

Plans are under way to beef up the nation's electricity transmission grid. At the same time, conservationists are trying to reduce the vast amount of power wasted in homes and offices. If we used energy more efficiently, would we need to spend billions of dollars on a new grid?

New Grid May Be Needed, But So Is Smarter Use

Listen · 5:48
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/103713402/103728903" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org