Powering the Fight Lessons from the Grid at War

“The two world wars of the twentieth century proved how central the electric grid was to total victory. It will be even more essential if the United States has to fight a major war in the future. The question is whether the grid will be ready to meet the demands of the modern military and the energy-intensive technologies we need to overmatch our adversaries in the terrestrial, space, and digital domains—or learn the hard way what happens when it’s not.”

— Will Rogers, Principal, Converge Strategies

Part One. The Grid, The Industrial Base, and Major War

Considers the U.S. military’s early relationship with the grid and the role electricity played in the mobilization of the defense industrial base during the two world wars of the twentieth century. It discusses the challenges the power grid faced meeting the total war requirements put on the defense industrial base, and what steps the United States took to overcome these challenges before they caused irreversible harm to the war effort.

Part Two. Domestic Installations and Shifting Dependence on the U.S. Electric Grid

Examines the evolution of U.S. domestic installations and their increasing dependence on the power grid. Noting the fundamental change in the nature of the U.S. military and its globally networked forces tied to domestic bases, this section emphasizes the military’s increasing dependence on a vulnerable and aging U.S. power grid. The section concludes by using the lessons from the last major wars to infer what might happen if the United States had to fight a major war today while relying on the current electric grid.

Part Three. Lessons Learned and The Way Ahead

Outlines important steps that policy makers, defense leaders, utility owners, and grid operators should consider today to begin to build an electric grid that will help the U.S. military succeed in the future, including:

1 Prioritize interregional transmission to redirect surplus power to areas of the nation experiencing shortfalls.
2 Foster interagency collaboration for coordinated engagement across critical defense and energy agencies.
3 Emphasize defense critical electric infrastructure as the focal point for the Department of Energy and U.S. military engagement with grid planners.
4 Strengthen public-private financing for transmission expansion by enlisting financial instruments to derisk investment and reduce ratepayer burden.
5 Support a flexible, efficient, and lean grid through federal investment in innovative grid technologies to maximize current infrastructure.
6 Build defense installation loads into grid planning to ensure utilities and grid operators have sufficient capacity for defense needs.

About Converge Strategies, LLC

Converge Strategies, LLC provides consulting services focused on the intersection of energy resilience and national security. www.convergestrategies.com

Media Contact

Adair Douglas

Converge Strategies

adouglas@convergestrategies.com

“The history of the two great world wars has proved dramatically the vital part of electric power: literally speaking, those who won had enough; those who lost, not enough. It will be equally true in any future conflict in which we may be forced to engage.”

— Walker Cisler, Founding Member of the National Academy of Engineering

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