Building the Grid of the Future: Western Legislators Explore Innovation, Reliability, and Resilience in Salt Lake City

Overview

In late October, legislators from eight Western states gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the latest installment of NCEL’s Building the Grid of the Future regional event series. Over three days, participants explored emerging technologies, rising energy demand, and policy solutions to strengthen the region’s electric grid. The convening combined expert-led sessions with hands-on tours to boost lawmakers’ understanding of the challenges and opportunities shaping the West’s energy future.

• Building the Grid of the Future Series: The October convening is the latest event in NCEL’s Building the Grid of the Future series, which brings together lawmakers to learn how they can improve grid reliability, resiliency, and affordability in their regions while advancing emission reduction goals. So far, events have been held for legislators in the West, Southeast, New England, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northwest.

Why a Resilient Western Grid Matters

Western states are bound together by more than geography — they rely on an interconnected grid that serves nearly 80 million people across diverse communities, economies, and landscapes. Today, that grid faces mounting pressures: surging electricity demand, the expansion of AI data centers, increasingly severe weather, and aging infrastructure. These shared challenges highlight why regional planning, modern transmission, and cross-state collaboration are crucial for the West’s energy future.

Setting the Scene: Building a Modern, Reliable Power Grid

The convening opened by underscoring a central theme: meeting the region’s accelerating energy needs requires coordinated regional action and modernized infrastructure. Legislators explored the importance of expanding transmission and integrating new technologies to enhance reliability, reduce costs, and support long-term economic growth.

A multi-sector panel — featuring national security, labor, and conservation perspectives — highlighted how successful grid development depends not only on technology, but also on trust and meaningful engagement with the communities who live alongside energy infrastructure. 

Opening day panels were followed by interactive discussions with legislators in attendance. The sessions included speakers from Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Western Freedom, The Western Way, SAFE, BlueGreen Alliance, IBEW, and The Nature Conservancy.

Hands-On Learning: Torus, University of Utah, & Weber State

Throughout the event, hands-on programming deepened these discussions. At Torus Inc.’s energy storage facility, lawmakers saw how advanced battery manufacturing, virtual power plants, and grid security solutions can improve resilience and reduce dependence on aging infrastructure. Tours of the University of Utah’s Nuclear Reactor Lab and the U-Smart grid simulation testbed demonstrated how research and regional modeling are strengthening the Western grid in an era of increased environmental risk and rising energy demand. Legislators also had the opportunity to learn about the Utah FORGE site, which could be the world’s largest enhanced geothermal plant in the coming years.

The final day featured a tour of Weber State University (WSU), demonstrating how large institutions can lead on energy transformation. Through innovative financing and long-term planning, WSU has reduced emissions, cut costs, and improved resilience — offering a tangible model for states and public institutions across the region.

Day Two Policy Workshops

The afternoon of the second day focused on policy workshops to provide legislators with practical strategies they can take home. A workshop led by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) highlighted emerging solutions state legislators can use to address both the energy challenges and economic opportunities presented by the data center industry. “Energy & Grid Policy Speed Dating” sessions followed for attendees to take deeper dives and strategize with experts on topics related to transmission, distributed energy sources, and large-scale energy needs. Speed dating sessions were led by experts from NextGen Highways, Advanced Energy United, Permit Power, Think Microgrid, Clean Tomorrow, SunRun, Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), and the Utah State Legislature. 

The second day concluded with a communication workshop led by the National Audubon Society to provide tools for discussing sensitive infrastructure issues with constituents, and an evening reception focused on the “Business and Economic Case for Clean Energy,” featuring speakers from Park City, Utah, and Interwest Energy Alliance. 

Outcomes & Looking Ahead

By the close of the convening, Western legislators had gained a clearer picture of the shared challenges facing the region’s grid and the tools available to address them. The event highlighted three overarching outcomes:

• Collaboration is essential. Strengthening the Western grid will require coordinated action across states, sectors, and communities.

• Innovation is reshaping the landscape. Advances in storage, modeling, and distributed energy resources are creating new opportunities to enhance reliability and affordability.

• States are key leaders. With technology rapidly evolving and infrastructure needs growing, state policymakers are uniquely positioned to shape practical, forward-looking solutions.

Legislators left Salt Lake City with actionable insights, strengthened partnerships, and renewed momentum to advance policies that will help build a more resilient, affordable, and future-ready grid for the West.

For more information on transmission and energy issues, please visit NCEL’s Transmission Issue Page and Utility Issue Page or contact NCEL’s Climate & Energy Program Manager, Ava Gallo.