What Is Grid Utilization?
If we try to meet today’s energy demands by just building more expensive infrastructure the old-fashioned way, regular people are going to foot the bill.
Right now, our path to a clean energy future is often paralyzed by gridlock. From aging infrastructure and persistent underinvestment in transmission to outdated policies that keep cheap, reliable clean energy offline, we’re living in the past—and consumers are the ones paying the price in higher bills and lower reliability.
Welcome to the first edition of The Grid Unlock, where we focus on the tangible steps we can take to overcome the bottlenecks and barriers to transforming our energy system. Subscribe today and join a community of energy leaders and advocates focused on turning "gridlock" into The Grid Unlock.
In this first edition: Let’s talk grid utilization.
What Is Grid Utilization, Exactly?
Deploy Action’s executive director, Arnab Pal, recently shared a useful way of visualizing what grid utilization is really all about:
Imagine buying a big, expensive delivery truck for your business, but usually only filling with maybe half the number of boxes it can hold. You’re paying for the whole vehicle—the fuel, the insurance, the maintenance—but you’re only using a fraction of its capacity 364 out of 365 days a year. That doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Our electric grid often works the same way. We build massive new infrastructure to handle peak moments.
The grid is planned for the highest-demand hours of the year plus a margin, which incentivizes power companies to pursue expensive upgrades that mostly serve rare peaks. That peak-driven model means about half of our grid's capacity sits idle most of the year and leaves regulators without consistent metrics to see where capacity is underused.
By relying on this outdated peak-driven model, power companies (and legislators) are essentially asking ratepayers to finance a system sized for the hottest hour of the year.
Bottom line? Before we spend a bunch of money to buy more trucks (or in this case, build more capacity), we should be utilizing what we already have better.
A New Playbook for Governors and State Leaders
State leaders have the power to fix this problem, right now and grid utilization is central to that effort.
Last week, Deploy Action came out with a new whitepaper, Grid Growth, Utilization, and Affordability: A Playbook for Statesfrom co-authors Jigar Shah and Arnab Pal. The report offers a strategic blueprint for state leaders to manage rapid electricity demand growth while improving customer affordability. It offers eight specific recommendations for leaders, categorized by near, medium, and long term time horizons.
For the newsletter, let’s break down the near-term playbook for the next few years (today through 2030). Five key moves are critical for state leaders to get maximum value from the grid customers have already paid for:
Scale virtual power plants (VPPs) as a mainstream reliability resource. VPPs—aggregations of distributed batteries, smart thermostats, EV chargers, and other flexible devices—can provide capacity and peak reduction faster than traditional alternatives and reduce peak demand right where constraints bite first: the distribution grid.
VPPs are the fastest megawatts we can build—software and devices instead of steel and concrete.
Make grid utilization measurable and enforceable. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Require consistent reporting at the feeder, substation, and system level—then integrate those metrics into planning approvals and rate cases so “build more” is no longer the default answer.
Prioritize large-load flexibility to speed connections and reduce peaks. Treating every large load as fully firm is a recipe for slow interconnection and expensive upgrades. Create flexible or interruptible service classes and enable “bring your own capacity” structures so sophisticated customers can connect faster while reducing peak contributions.
Modernize rate design so households aren’t subsidizing growth. Large-load tariffs, minimum payment structures, and time-varying rates are pro-fairness. If a project requires dedicated upgrades, cost allocation should reflect that reality, not shift risk onto residential customers.
Deploy grid-enhancing technologies to unlock capacity on existing wires. Advanced conductors, dynamic line ratings, and power flow controls can expand throughput on existing corridors faster than new transmission
Grid Utilization in Virginia
This isn't just a "what if" scenario; it’s actually happening.
Virginia’s General Assembly just passed a new grid utilization bill that governors around the country should use as a starting point. It requires utility companies to prove how well they're using the infrastructure they already have. Now, regulators will have the power to check if the current grid is being used to its full potential before they let companies charge customers for expensive new projects.
Get the Full Playbook
In addition to the near-term guidance, Jigar and Arnab offer actionable ideas on what governors and state leaders should be teeing up for 2030 and beyond. To go deeper into the recommendations, download the whitepaper now.
This is a defining moment. The states that move first on grid utilization will attract investment, shorten time-to-power, and keep electricity affordable—turning a national constraint into a competitive advantage.