On November 29th, 2017, Climate Institute hosted a speaker event in to launch the North American Supergrid Initiative.  This event introduced stakeholders, partners, students, and interested individuals to the initiative and highlighted work completed thus far. Please see the links below to watch the each speaker’s presentation.

Speaker 1: Dr. Alexander MacDonald

Former leader of NOAA’s largest research laboratory

Dr. MacDonald will be speaking on the state of our current electric grid, the need for the North American Supergrid, and will introduce the overall benefits of the system. Dr. MacDonald’s research and publications inspired the North American Supergrid vision.

Speaker 2: Betsy Beck

Current Director of Transmission Policy at the American Wind Energy Association.

Ms. Beck will speak on positive impacts the North American Supergrid will have on distributed energy generation infrastructure and the potential mitigation of climate change causing emissions.

Speaker 3: Charlie Bayless

Former CEO of Tucson Electric Power and Illinois Power Company.

Mr. Bayless will speak on the opportunities for economic growth and increased national security derived from the North American Supergrid, including job creation, protection against EMP/GMD, and the ‘business case’ for the system.

Speaker 4: Rachel Levine

Current Chief Engineer for the Climate Institute.

Ms. Levine will speak on the practical implementation considerations of constructing the North American Supergrid, including environmental siting mechanisms and case study vision for pilot projects.