On Wednesday, September 16, SAFE’s Center for Grid Security hosted a webinar, “Clearing Constraints: Executive Order 14421 and the Component Chokepoints Slowing Grid Expansion.”
Grid expansion is not slowed by a single component constraint. It is slowed by a handful of specific constraints sitting at the center of unacceptable supply chain risk, continuing adversarial dominance, and manufacturing constraints that Washington, D.C. needs to understand in order to get implementation right.
Speakers addressed which components are the most pressing component bottlenecks for grid buildout, why some of these chokepoints sit further upstream than most people realize, where adversarial supply chain dominance poses the greatest risk to grid security, and what the right investment mechanism looks like for each constraint, since capacity, concentration, and demand certainty each require a fundamentally different fix.
SAFE’s webinar also came on the heels of Executive Order 14421, issued by President Trump on August 26, which prohibits any acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation of any foreign-produced bulk-power system electric equipment to protect the United States’ national security and economy. The challenge: DOE has 120 days not just to implement the restrictions, but to ensure secure options exist for what they remove from the market, without further slowing the expansion of the grid.
Speakers were:
- Joe Donovan · Executive Director · Transformer Manufacturing Association of America
- Bridget Bartol ·Executive Director, Industry and Regulatory Affairs, Grid · National Electrical Manufacturers Association
- Danielle Russo · Executive Director, Center for Grid Security · SAFE
