The Brattle Group’s 2019 study assessed the importance of proactive infrastructure planning in anticipation of the electrification of major sectors of the U.S. economy. The study makes a case for accelerating development and
integration of the interstate grid. It highlights how the North American economies will become more electrically driven and contemplates new demands on an aging transmission network that has been planned based on historical assumptions and traditional usage patterns. Looking 10 and 30 years into the future, this analysis estimates that electrification of the transportation sector (i.e., electric vehicles), deployment of electric heat pumps, and other technologies will increase electricity demand overall and therefore magnify the need for investment in transmission.