Modern warfare is digitized, electrified, and accelerating.
Drones, AI, sensors, and automated decision-making systems all rely on a steady flow of power—power that depends on the grid. The U.S. military is rapidly expanding its capabilities, upgrading equipment, and fielding new technologies, but without adequate transmission, those advances will stall. Power demand is surging, yet red tape and outdated misconceptions stand in the way of the upgrades we urgently need.
Transmission is the foundation of American power—and of national defense.
Transmission lines are the high-voltage highways that deliver electricity from where it’s generated to where it’s needed most: military installations, missile defense systems, defense-critical manufacturing plants, and data centers. But America cannot fight and win tomorrow’s battles with yesterday’s grid.
Reshoring defense-critical industries—from aluminum smelting to advanced manufacturing—depends on abundant, affordable, and firm power delivered over a modern transmission system. Expanding and upgrading that infrastructure strengthens reliability, bolsters the industrial base, and makes America a safer bet for defense-critical investment and jobs. But today, power outages cost the U.S. economy an estimated $150 billion each year.
China is racing ahead.
Between 2014 and 2021, China built over 80 times more high-voltage interregional transmission than the United States. In 2022 alone, China invested $166 billion in its transmission grid which surpassed the combined grid investment of $118 billion by all other countries.
Rapid transmission development allows the country to take full advantage of its energy resources. With China planning to invest another $800+ billion in grid expansion, it’s clear that it understands what the United States must now recognize: electric power is national power.
