The Current: July 2026 News

Message From Katie

Dear Colleagues, Stakeholders, and Friends,

Our work to unleash affordable, reliable, and secure American energy is more important than ever. This month highlighted the urgent need to stabilize our grid as emergencies like heat waves swept across the country and strained the grid. I applaud Secretary Wright and my colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for their crucial actions to keep the air cooled and the lights on. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, these efforts are essential to keep homes, businesses, and communities powered and connected today and for generations to come.

At the Office of Electricity (OE), we’re proud to be part of America’s legacy of ingenuity. We found it inspiring to see America’s energy story showcased at DOE’s Great American State Fair booth during the Freedom250 events, including the breakthrough in 1882 when electricity first reached the masses! Nearly 150 years later, this system has grown to serve more than 150 million customers. Back then, electricity brought light to the world and now it keeps us cool, powers our phones, and makes our lives easier in more ways than I can say in this short message.

As we reflect on these achievements and look toward the future, we’re focused on driving innovation that will reduce costs for customers. Earlier this month, we opened the Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production (STEP) Prize, a $500,000 competition designed to encourage innovators to think ahead. We’re asking competitors to consider manufacturability, material sourcing, and supply chain resilience from the start. By tackling these challenges early in the design process, teams can avoid production hiccups, skip costly redesigns, and bring their ideas to market faster.

Also, this month, we published the draft 2026 National Transmission Needs Study and we welcome your feedback! The report highlights a big challenge: America needs more electric transmission infrastructure to support fast-growing industries such as data centers and domestic manufacturing. A booming economy requires a grid capable of delivering more power.

Grid modernization requires strengthening both the nation’s digital and physical infrastructure—and the Office of Electricity is advancing both! Through its Transformer Resilience and Advanced Components (TRAC) program, the office is accelerating the development of next-generation transformers and grid hardware that improve the affordability, reliability, and security of the U.S. electric grid.

By supporting research, development, testing, and demonstration of innovative technologies, TRAC is helping modernize critical grid infrastructure while strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chains. Specifically, TRAC is focused on:

• Developing advanced transformer technologies that improve grid reliability and adaptability.
• Accelerating research into next-generation transformer core alternatives to improve power efficiency and alleviate critical supply chain constraints.
• Advancing Solid State Power Substations to enable more flexible power flow, enhanced voltage control, and new grid capabilities.
• Boosting research and development of critical grid hardware to support a more modern, secure, and efficient electricity system.

Learn about these grid innovations and more at the TRAC Peer Review on Sept. 21–22 in Washington, D.C.

Don’t miss the first webinar in a new six-part Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) series—System Integration for Microgrids: Planning to Add New Generation and Storage Assets.

The webinar will examine how to plan and sequence the addition of new generation and storage assets in a microgrid. Attendees will learn about the technical integration prerequisites required for reliable microgrid operation.

• When: Aug. 20, 2026 (1–2:30 p.m. MT/3–4:30 p.m. ET)
• Where: Zoom
• Explore and register for other C-MAP series webinars.