Energy Center

The U.S. electric grid is a complex network of independently owned and operated power plants and transmission lines that powers our factories, homes and schools. Often taken for granted, our daily dependence on electrical power is most likely produced by a coal or gas-fired plant that can be ramped up or down to meet demand. The United States' current electric grid was designed more than a century ago, and its inefficiencies are expensive.  Rising energy prices and increased power demands weigh heavily on the aging infrastructure, and have forced experts to critically examine the status and health of the nation's electrical systems to address:

Approximately 6% of electricity generated is lost in the transmission and distribution system, costing consumers roughly $25 billion annually.

Power demand rose nearly 30% between 1990 and 2009 (DOE, 2011), resulting in a rising number of power outages and blackouts, which now cost the nation at least $150 billion per year (U.S. DOE, 2008).

Nationwide demand for electricity is expected to grow 30% by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Energy Outlook 2009.

Electricity prices are forecast to increase 50% over the next 7 years.

To answer these challenges, utilities will be turning to more efficient transmission and digital infrastructure and communication processes called the Smart grid. Purdue University, in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College have stepped forward to train the workforce of tomorrow that can design, develop, install, and maintain the electrical grid, through the Crossroads Smart Grid Training Program.