Modernizing the grid has become a high priority for Congress and industry. This has been witnessed during periods of harsh weather. The aging infrastructure and increasing demand for power have made the grid susceptible to “cascading failures,” where the failure of one component leads to a series of failures. Aging grids drive $51B in annual utility distribution spending | Utility Dive
In fact, 70 percent of transmission lines are at least 30 years old and approaching the end of their lifecycle, and 60 percent of the circuit breakers are more than 35 years old, compared to useful lives of 20 years. Although in recent years the grid has been augmented with automation and some emerging tech, It is still mostly dependent on legacy technologies.
