GMI Strategy Released

The Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI) has announced its strategy for investing in innovative new technologies to modernize today’s power grid while ensuring it remains secure and sustainable.

The GMI coordinates key research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities across the Department to maintain and advance a resilient, secure and equitable grid. Additionally, the initiative provides thought leadership to integrate all sources of electricity in a modernized grid ecosystem, solving key challenges like energy storage, distributed generation, cybersecurity, and climate resilience, while providing a coordinated and accessible platform for innovation in a global energy economy. 

Since 2015, the GMI has leveraged the expertise of nine DOE offices, fourteen national laboratories (through the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium) and diverse stakeholder groups to fund over $300 million of cutting-edge activities spanning from basic research to field demonstrations. These efforts directly support this Administration’s goals to achieve a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, and a net-zero GHG emissions economy by no later than 2050.  

“Modernizing the electric grid is essential to achieving our clean energy goals and maintaining U.S. leadership and innovation in a global energy economy. This updated grid strategy outlines DOE’s integrated, focused approach to rapidly advancing the key R&D priorities needed to support a resilient and reliable grid that integrates all sources of electricity, delivers affordable and equitable energy, and maintains our national security,” said Geri Richmond, Undersecretary for Science and Innovation. “Following this strategy, DOE is working with utilities, regulators, communities, and local governments to provide secure and accessible energy resources for all Americans and meet the power demands of the 21st century.”

Drawing from the Administration’s goals and power system objectives, the GMI’s updated strategy defines six pillars to guide its work: 1) Devices and Integrated Systems; 2) Operations 3) Planning; 4) Markets, Policies, and Regulations; 5) Resilient and Secure Systems; and 6) Flexible Generation and Load. Using these pillars as a foundation, the GMI will execute programs that include fundamental scientific research and development, technology demonstrations in real-world conditions, and technical assistance to support key stakeholders, such as state regulatory agencies. 

The future modernized grid will need to balance a variety of key priorities that are not all perfectly aligned with each other. This document establishes a clear and actionable grid modernization strategy for DOE and the national labs to align these priorities in a secure and efficient manner.