The PDIC Presents: Meeting Our Daunting Utility Infrastructure Needs in the West

Public Development and Infrastructure Council (PDIC) presents an overview of the challenges facing utility infrastructure in the United States. Issues include significant growth in industry and population base in the Southwest and the resulting steep demand curve from the additional residential customers, growth of electric vehicles, and industrial uses that draw on electric and water utilities or require transmission lines to deliver electricity to the grid; the maze of different agencies and regulatory requirements surrounding electric transmission infrastructure across the United States; vehicle electrification demands; increasing electrification of building energy uses as many regions shift away from natural gas, coal, and oil; water infrastructure challenged by changes in climate patterns; increased operational and asset risks to utilities due to climate change; heat and lack of water demanding wildfire management and constraining hydropower and reservoir water supplies; and too much water and sea-level rise affecting design and sustainable location of utility infrastructure, making flood control measures a necessity.