Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn today called for more investment in the nation’s electricity infrastructure following the release of the annual long-term reliability assessment of the nation’s bulk electric power system by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

NERC officials announced that electricity usage in the United States is projected to grow more than twice as fast as committed resources during the next 10 years. They said that unless additional resources are brought into service, some regions of the United States could fall below their target capacity margins within two or three years, while in parts of western Canada, demand is projected to outpace resource capacity within about two years.

“NERC’s assessment today confirms yet again that we must continue investing in the nation’s electric transmission and generation infrastructure, along with aggressively developing energy efficiency, to ensure that we have reliable and affordable electricity,” Kuhn said.

“We strongly agree with NERC’s view that addressing electric generation capacity issues and transmission constraints throughout the system, as well as developing energy efficiency programs and addressing aging workforce issues, are imperative to keeping the power flowing,” the EEI president said.

“The entire electric system, from generation plants to power lines to employees, is increasingly strained as demand grows across the U.S.,” Kuhn said. “As technology continues to rapidly evolve and the economy continues to grow, we are becoming ever more dependent upon an uninterrupted flow of power.”