U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm Visits EPRI's Charlotte Laboratory

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kicking off a week-long tour focused on clean energy manufacturing, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited one of EPRI's state-of-the-art laboratories today, viewing innovative transmission and distribution research underway to address energy resilience and reliability, as part of the clean energy transition.

During her visit, Secretary Granholm toured some of EPRI's facilities, which included the lab's short- and long-term testing and analysis of multiple types of advanced conductors to help expand the capacity of existing transmission lines. The facilities also include numerous other transmission and distribution testing capabilities, including underground transmission, high-voltage, and corrosion testing. The newly-renovated laboratory and outdoor testing facilities total more than 107,600 square feet—the size of nearly two U.S. football fields.

"Reconductoring is one component of a very robust strategy to reuse existing infrastructure to help decrease our energy production costs and enable the deployment of renewable energy," said Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm. "EPRI is uplifting the Biden-Harris Administration's decarbonization goals and bringing America one step closer to a modernized, clean energy future." 

Accompanying Secretary Granholm on the lab tour were EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor, Vice President of Corporate Affairs Katie Jereza, and Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure Andrew Phillips.

"It was an honor to host U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm and show her the cutting-edge research that EPRI is conducting with energy stakeholders, identifying opportunities in the sector to make today better and tomorrow possible," said EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor. "EPRI's collaborative R&D model complements DOE's innovation priorities to bring next-generation energy technologies to life at scale."

As an independent research institute, EPRI collaborates with energy companies and other key stakeholders, as well as DOE, and academic institutions. Among projects, EPRI works with DOE's national laboratories on efforts to advance the integration of distributed energy resources—such as wind and solar—into U.S. energy systems.

EPRI also operates research laboratories in Lenox, Mass., and Knoxville, Tenn., which test advanced transmission and distribution lines, electric vehicle charging, robotics and drones for advanced inspection and repair, manhole events, and distributed energy resource evaluations, among other capabilities. For more information on all three laboratories, please see this brochure.

Additional photos are available upon request.

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About EPRI
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world's preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI's trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and equitable access to electricity across the globe. Together, we are shaping the future of energy.

SOURCE EPRI