
Steve Martz
Imagine this: It’s the 1960s and the world watches as the United States and the Soviet Union square off through several different venues to compete for military, cultural, industrial, geopolitical, and scientific might and influence. Having lost some of the initial forays, an emboldened President Kennedy in 1962 launched the need for an unprecedented call to action from our country and in this moment created the literal ”moonshot.” In practice today, we all know this as a seemingly impossible goal, that if successful has an extraordinary impact. Personally, I think the space race and specifically the success of the moon landing is probably the most impressive accomplishment of humankind. But I question, was it the most important?
The Vision: One Small Step for Man, Three Giant Leaps for Infrastructure
The initial build-out of electric infrastructure came in the late 1800s, precipitated and catalyzed by technology breakthroughs that went on to underpin the first commercial grids in New York and New Jersey. After this initial launch, progress was steady but unexplosive. The first societal electrification was simple — adding light bulbs to homes, powering simple industrial equipment like pumps — and largely predicated on a linear grid model consisting of a central power plant, feeding a high-voltage transmission system, moving on to a lower voltage distribution system and finally to the customer. This model worked extremely well, though, and survived for over a century, enduring two successive eras of high growth — refrigeration and air conditioning. I am sure both of these were fraught with their own challenges; however, the grid was much less complex, and in times of duress, a system operator could dispatch additional generation without as much regard for economics, customer demand, or carbon emissions. Furthermore, the ability to construct new infrastructure was quite a bit easier and faster.
Flash forward to 2025, where we sit at a new intersection of similarly trying times as our industry contemplates how to navigate extraordinary growth, a decarbonization imperative, an aging grid, and a high degree of customer participation vis-a-vis rooftop solar and storage. At Xcel Energy, our own moonshot came in 2018 when we announced that we would be the first utility to provide carbon-free power by 2050. While landing on the moon is impressive, I personally think that this leap forward in electric service is the most important accomplishment we can aim for — a hypothesis that we can build a resilient, efficient, and carbon-free power grid capable of serving novel electric uses as society continues on its path of electrification. And oh yeah, now we need to also figure out how to serve data centers.
The Team: From Rocket Scientists to Grid Gurus
The early space programs were composed of proving fundamental hypotheses. Gemini, Mercury, and then Apollo each contained their own basis of design, helping to answer the three basic design tenets: Gemini was to prove humans could exist and work in space, Mercury was to prove out the equipment to get into space and to the moon, and the Apollo missions skillfully braided them together proving humans + equipment = the Moon. Each program brought together the brightest minds of its day: scientists, engineers, and astronauts.
Our mission to modernize the power grid is no different. Starting in 2022, we knew that we needed to organize our company [NASA] differently. If we had followed our normal utility organizational design, it would be akin to asking our system operators [astronauts] to also design the equipment [engineering], make the equipment [construction and project management], and, lastly, develop the system plan to figure out how this complex grid will work and hit the moon [the mission plan]. The first order analogy is even more complex when you think about the need to create a system that works flawlessly from power plant or wind plant to customer light switch or electric vehicle charging port — and do it 365, 24/7.
We knew we needed to think differently, and we needed to maximize the use of our talent to create centers of excellence and achieve mission success. If we didn’t, the rockets would not work with the lunar lander, which might not work with the lunar rover, and we might not get our guy back safely. Ok, I think I took the analogy a bit too far, but you get the idea. So, we took a step forward, and in 2022 we created an Integrated System Planning organization with an objective of providing the company with its mission plan to get our astronauts on the moon.
The Mission Plan: From Sputnik to Saturn V to Smart Grids
The moonshot was aggressive, putting a man on the moon within a decade; however, in actuality its progress was hard-fought, nearly trench warfare, gained through inch by inch progress rather than risky strides. What NASA did well though was to plot a very methodical course of progress. They broke down the outcome they wanted and then dissected the problem until no stone was left unturned, effectively giving them the playbook for each necessary hurdle — rocket fuel, booster engines, spacesuits, guidance, and controls, to name a few. We must do something similar, which is why in March 2024 we launched our Grid of the Future project. Our objective was to take our first step towards our moonshot by methodically mapping out the steps we need to take. What technology do we need to find, what steel do we need to put in the ground, and when and how will we do all of this? In simplest terms we needed to create our Mission Plan. The Grid of the Future plan was a first-of-its-kind effort and specifically embraced the idea of integrated planning. As stated before, we must make sure the Saturn V rockets work with the lunar lander.
We decided early on that we needed to start with our feeders and build upwards from there. In doing so, we created a comprehensive, propensity-based analysis of a large electric grid which we then synthesized with our transmission analysis and finally the generation. What we felt was novel, was rather than consider demand and resource optimization on the generation side, we deployed an optimization of load and distributed energy resources (DERs) at an individual feeder level and then built demand profiles from there. Below is a schematic showing a simplified version of the modeling process we developed to create our plan.
The Apollo missions relied on cutting-edge technology, including the mighty Saturn V rocket. Today, our technological arsenal includes smart grids, advanced analytics, and renewable energy solutions. The Public Service Company of Colorado( PSCo) “Grid of the Future” whitepaper emphasizes the importance of leveraging these innovations to create a more efficient and reliable power grid. While we may not be launching rockets, our tech is equally impressive.
The Challenges: “Houston, We Have a DER”
First, I am kidding. As a long-time utility engineer, I hope this audience can grant me a bit of grace with my analogy. A former boss of mine once told me that the job of the utility engineer is to balance cost and risk — so I think this is our Apollo 13 moment. In fact, it reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in the titular movie, a scene I would wager is embedded in the dreams and memories of most engineers. The flight director realizes the CO2 levels are rising, so he gives a group of engineers some duct tape, pens, notepads, extra hoses, and other mission detritus and asks them to literally get a square cartridge to fit in a round hole. Spoiler alert – they deliver! The Apollo missions faced countless challenges, from technical glitches to budget constraints. Similarly, our journey to build the Grid of the Future will be troubled by obstacles. One of the deliverables we wanted to derive from our Grid of the Future output was an understanding of what is not possible today, what we do not have, what we need to be successful, and the likely question for everyone involved, what will it cost?
This is best exemplified by what we learned about mass market adoption and integration of DERs. In the past, utilities have treated DERs as more nuisance than resource. Here is your interconnection process and here is a feed-in tariff or net-metered rate. But what we know now is that the amount of utility-scale generation is so immense that its feasibility is questionable. This necessitated a question, how do we turn DERS from system user to system enabler? By modeling differing levels of saturation and then watching the gauges of our cost engine we now have a better economic understanding of the value of DERs, as well as the general role of load flexibility on our system. This means that our mission plan is further informed, we now know their role, and we know how they fit into customer programs to achieve the necessary system benefit. This is just an example, but it’s a complex puzzle and the landscape of our challenges is broader than just DER integration — it’s expansive and includes supply chain constraints, unique load characteristics, an evolving policy landscape, execution feasibility, and other challenges. While landing a man on the moon was no easy feat, it had one clear goal with a known set of variables; in contrast, the infrastructure build-out we are embarking on has multiple competing variables, and our planning must now solve for multiple objectives at once.
Conclusion: To Infinity and Beyond
As we embark on this journey to build the infrastructure of the future, we draw inspiration from the Apollo missions. The challenges may be different, but the spirit of innovation, collaboration, and determination remains the same. So, here’s to one small step for man and one giant leap for infrastructure. Together, we’ll reach for the stars and create a brighter, more sustainable future for all.
The goal of my blog post was to offer a teaser. I plan to return to you all with updates on our Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo missions. While NASA sought a more linear approach, I fear we in the power industry do not have the time, so please follow along as we simultaneously deploy our programs of work as we aim for our moonshot.
P.S. Major Tom to Ground Control, my faith in technology is wavering. I have made several inquiries to HAL 9000, my AI-enabled digital copilot, hoping to identify a pithy pun combining the idea of the electric grid and the moonshot. Unfortunately, HAL suggested “Lunashock,” “Mooncharge,” “Gridshot,” and what might be the best, “Moonergy.”
Steve Martz
Vice President of Integrated Planning
Xcel Energy
Member, ESIG Board of Directors
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