What's plaguing America's power grid?

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WNYC | Jun 23, 2025

The United States' power grid is a nearly 100-year-old network of electrical circuits. That network is facing increased demand: In 2022, the United States used 4 trillion kilowatts of electrify — 14 times as much as was used in 1950. It also faces weather-related stress from extreme weather that's becoming more common with climate change.

So, we wanted to know: What will it take to modernize this aging infrastructure that's become so essential to our daily lives? We interrogate that question today with the help of Anjan Bose, an electrical engineer at Washington State University.

Interested in more stories about electricity? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and edited by Berly McCoy. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.

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