Webinar: Transmission Planning with Large Loads

Featured Speakers: Johannes Pfeifenberger, Principal, The Brattle Group; Warren Lasher, President, Lasher Energy Consulting

Moderator: James Okullo, Director of System Planning, ESIG

About the Webinar: Utility forecasts indicate that U.S. electricity use will grow by about a third by 2030, with data centers accounting for roughly 55% of peak-demand growth. These loads are challenging transmission planning processes designed for slower, more predictable growth. Three structural weaknesses compound the problem: siloed planning processes, a timing mismatch between transmission development and large-load schedules, and uncertainty about the scale, location, and operating characteristics of future demand. In many regions, the result is piecemeal transmission investment that solves the immediate problem but creates little durable headroom for future loads, generation, or broader system needs.

This webinar presents the findings and recommendations of the ESIG Large Loads Task Force report on transmission planning with large loads. The report calls for a more integrated approach to transmission planning for large loads, built around shared assumptions and scenarios, explicit treatment of uncertainty through scenario-based and least-regrets analysis, better coordination of near- and long-term planning, greater use of flexible service options, co-location, and advanced transmission technologies, and transmission solutions that meet immediate needs while preserving efficient pathways for future growth. Speakers will also discuss immediate actions, such as headroom studies and clearer locational signals, that can widen the set of workable options today.

About the Speakers: Johannes Pfeifenberger is an economist with a background in electrical engineering and over 25 years of experience in the areas of electricity markets, regulation, and finance.  Hannes specializes in wholesale electricity market and transmission, helping clients explore the benefits of improved power market designs and grid investments, the integration of renewable generation and storage resources, and the impact of regulatory and legislative actions in the context of evolving market conditions.  He is a Visiting Scholar at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), a former Senior Fellow at Boston University’s Institute of Sustainable Energy (BU-ISE), and an IEEE Senior Member. Hannes frequently serves as an advisor to research initiatives by the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) and the US Department of Energy’s National Labs.

Warren Lasher is President of Lasher Energy Consulting, a firm he founded in October, 2021, focused on providing specialized analysis and insight designed to help clients meet their strategic energy goals. Prior to this role, Mr. Lasher spent seventeen years in the System Planning organization at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, serving as Director and then Senior Director of System Planning from 2012 to 2021. Prior to his work at ERCOT, Mr. Lasher was employed by the Southern Company in Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked in the Engineering and the Generation Planning organizations. Mr. Lasher has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, and graduate degrees in Environmental Management and in Computer Science.

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