The Grid: The Largest Machine Ever Built

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The grid powers everything around you. And it is in crisis. We cannot build AI, decarbonize our economy, or deliver affordable electricity if we don’t rebuild. And yet, the largest machine humankind has ever made is a miracle. For nearly a century, electricity got cheaper every decade and the grid became so reliable that we stopped thinking about it altogether. This machine was not designed; it accumulated through a century and a half of decisions with unforeseen consequences. And now we are demanding that this aging, fragmented system grow faster than it has in generations. To understand the struggle and opportunity of this moment, we have to understand how the grid came to be. It is an…