Three interlocking crises. One regional electricity system. A paper forthcoming from Ridgeline Collaborative.
The Pacific Northwest electricity system faces a convergence of crises — explosive demand growth, aging infrastructure requiring massive reinvestment, and an accelerating clean energy transition — all governed by a fragmented patchwork of institutions that weren't designed for challenges of this scale. This paper maps the landscape.
Data centers, electrification, and industrial expansion are driving unprecedented load growth across the region — straining a system built for a different era.
Dozens of utilities, agencies, and jurisdictions share responsibility for a deeply interconnected grid — but no one is steering the whole.
The clean energy transition is accelerating faster than institutions can adapt, creating both existential risks and transformative opportunities.
A survey of current efforts — from WRAP and Markets+ to state-level policy — and why they're necessary but insufficient.
The gaps, blind spots, and structural barriers that current approaches don't address.
Not a single prescription, but a map of where leverage exists — for policymakers, advocates, and the public.
This paper is in active development. If you'd like to be notified when it's published, or if you work in PNW energy policy and want to connect, reach out.
hello@ridgelinecollab.org