b"6American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(GRIDLOCKcontinuedforexample,cannowmoreproductionandconsump- these products take a decade from page 4) accuratelymonitorequipmenttion will become vital, whileto build.said. It awarded energy infra- wearandtear,bettermatchothersbelievethisso-called structure a dismal D+. supply and demand and moremicrogridwillremainof Its getting worse. preciselycontrolusage.Utili- marginal importance.ties are already devouring theseThen,therespolitics. s tate of theG rid systems.Themorefunda- Thewholemarketplaceis Recent events in Califor- mental change is on the soft- a political battle in terms of niaprovidedramaticwarn- ware and controls basis, saidgovernmentandrulesand ingsignsofwhatcouldWanless.Itsalreadyhap- regulations and tax law skew-happen if nothing is done. Inpening. You just dont knowing which source of energy is thepasttwoyears,extremeit, said Wanless. going to win, said Rys.weathertriggeredblackouts,Eric Wanless, director ofOur grid is getting smarter,Evenadvocatesofa a downed power line ignitedtechnology and innovation at thebut it has a long way to go,complete grid transformation oneenormouslydeadlyfireRockefeller Foundation added Rys. Homes are get- dont see some sort of magic and the mere danger of wild- announcedlastweekthatittingsmarter,buttheyhaveswitch being thrown. Its not firescausedamajorutilitywill no longer build coal firedalongwaytogo.AndtheasiftheoldgridwilloneRick Rys, ARC Advisory Groupto cut power to millions (seeplants and shutter or sell exist- grid interactive home doesntday be shut down and a newAnalystshaveidentified box on page 4). Utilities theseingfacilitiestoconcentrateexist yet. onepoweredup.Toomuchseveralelementsofanew days are scrambling to keepon renewables. With a changeAlthough theres univer- is at stake. You dont wantgrid. Here are eight: theirlinesandequipmentlike this, project cargo special- salagreementthatabettertoinvestbillionsofdollars1.Asmartgrid.Thegrid safefromthefiresthatareists should anticipate a signifi- grid is a much smarter one,on the grid maintenance anditself becomes a more active now ravaging the West. cant upturn in business. its less certain exactly whatthen have it not actually workplayer,andateveryjunc-Utilities are already moreshape a new power grid wouldfor a future that were movingture.Informationbecomes vulnerable to extreme weatherP oiNts ofi mProvemeNt take. Amongthosewhoseetoward,saidWanless.Itsincreasinglymoredetailed events than in the past, wroteDespiteitscrumblingthebasicoutlinesthesamenot two pots of money. and actionable, making both McKinsey & Co. in a reportinfrastructure, the grid displaysway, important details differ.It will take time. This isproduction and consumption last year calling for utilities tosomepointsofimprovement.For example, some maintainnot an easy infrastructure to(GRIDLOCKcontinued on adapttonewenvironmentalAdvancedsoftwaresystems,thathighlylocalizedpowerchange, said Rys. Many ofpage 13)realities. (see box on page 4)Its not just utilities. Its vital for those in logistics to understandwhatcouldbe aseismicshiftinthegridSPECIALTY CARGOand the various components involved.BuildinganewNEEDS SPECIALgridorevenupgrad-ingthecurrentonewill impact vessels and the ports,ATTENTIONrail and road, cargo handlers and3PLs.Newequipment, new handling methods, new transportsolutionswillall berequired.Power,which already plays a major role in projectcargo,willbecome ever more important. Everyonewithaninter-est in project cargo should be aware of the state of the grid and what changes are on the horizon.Billionsofdollars will be at stake. Peopleglossoverthe massiveamountoflogis-tics required if you go from havingdozensofpower plants to tens of thousands of powerplants,saidRhodes in an interview, the manag-ing all of that, upgrading the distribution system to handle that, upgrading the transmis-sion system to handle all that. It is a lot. Amoderngridbecomes ever more vital as we attempt to move away from polluting energysources,embracingBreakbulk cargo isn't typical cargo. Good thing theeverything from electric vehi-clestorooftopsolarpanels.Port of San Diego isn't your typical port. Aselectricityconsumption isgrowingthroughelec-trificationefforts,thereisOPEN SPACEFLEXIBILITYEXPERTISEgoing to be a need for more robust transmission and dis- Take advantage of our special advantage.tribution infrastructure, said EricWanless,directorof technologyandinnovationportofsandiego.org/cargoattheRockefellerFounda-tion, where he focuses on the power industry. Large,renewableenergy projectshavealreadybeen identifiedasimportantdriv-ersinaglobaleconomic recovery following the Covid pandemic.Andtheshiftis underwayGEthelargest builderofcoalfiredplants,"