The Path to Power: Connecting Large Loads

By Sarah Wang,  Mark Lozano,  Claire Wayner,  Tyler Farrell,  Chaz Teplin

With the rapid rise of data centers and increases in electrification and manufacturing, the US electricity system is responding to record demand and an expectation of sustained growth. Initial federal, state, and public reactions have focused on struggles to connect new loads and procure matching generation to serve them reliably. Crucially, however, the transmission system must also expand to support these new loads and generators. These transmission investments will be foundational grid investments, and we must ensure we plan them wisely.

In their 2025 review of nationwide demand forecasts, Grid Strategies found that utilities and grid operators expect electricity consumption to grow 5.7% annually over the next five years, with peak demand rising by 3.7% annually. Utilities expect 80% of this demand growth to come from large individual loads, with the remainder coming from smaller loads such as heat pumps and electric vehicles.

In the chart below, we summarize the sources of expected load growth out to 2030, with large load sources in shades of blue and aggregations of smaller residential and commercial loads in green. Data centers account for more than half of all projected load increases.

Over the four articles in this series, we describe how grid operators grapple with the transmission needs created by large load interconnection requests and suggest approaches to ensure we make wise transmission investments that benefit all customers. Crucially, we suggest that piecemeal transmission investments that enable large loads to connect “one at a time” will be inefficient and costly compared to system-wide planning that identifies investments that provide diverse benefits.

Preview of the article series:

1. Understanding Large Load Interconnection
   Article #1 provides an accessible introduction to the large load interconnection process. We explain the studies that grid operators conduct after receiving large load interconnection requests, the types of transmission projects those studies identify, and how utilities and regulators allocate the costs of those projects.

2. Large Loads and Network Upgrades
   Article #2 examines how the surge in large load interconnection requests is driving an increasing volume and scale of network upgrades. Identified through the interconnection process for individual loads, these upgrades extend beyond a load’s immediate connection point to ensure the broader grid can reliably accommodate the new demand. We also discuss why the interconnection process, and the resulting excessive network upgrades, will likely be an inefficient way to expand grid capacity.

3. Large Loads and System-Wide Transmission
   Article #3 examines how large loads also impact system-wide transmission planning. We highlight successful transmission investments and discuss proactive strategies for planning efficiently and managing risk.

4. Using Regional-First Planning to Streamline Large Load Interconnection
   Article #4 introduces regional-first planning and suggests ways for grid operators to align the large load interconnection process and system-wide planning to make the wisest investments.