The AEIC Grid Advancement Collaborative Program is a 12-month, cohort-based innovation journey, built by utilities, for utilities, to solve the top 10 grid modernization challenges of 2026 together, so the cost of finding out lands once instead of two dozen times.
Today's grid is under extraordinary demand. The rise of AI data centers, electrification, and distributed energy resources is straining capacity, and prices have climbed since 2021. Utilities are expected to scale faster than ever. Grid modernization is no longer optional. It is an imperative.
That is where the Grid Advancement Program comes in. Run inside AEIC's Center for Operational Excellence and powered by InnovationForce, the cohort pools what it learns so the cost of solving each challenge lands once, not once per utility. The technology to modernize the grid largely exists. The hard part is balancing affordability with innovation, and doing it together.
A full toolkit per challenge, built with member utilities and matched to real operating problems, not a vendor roadmap.
The Top 10 challenges, defined with member utilities and backed by real operating data.
A structured playbook per challenge: the problem, the proven solutions, and how peers are solving it.
The vetted technologies and solution categories mapped to each operational challenge.
Top solution providers scouted and matched to your challenge inside a private workspace.
Working sessions where utility peers compare notes and move beyond endless pilots into real change.
A secure, member-only platform to collaborate, share case studies, and crowdsource answers.
Each challenge was defined with a member utility and anchors a working group, a playbook, and a set of matched solutions. Explore them in full in the report or inside InnovationWorks.
Harden the grid against weather and wildfire with covered conductor, AI risk modeling, surgical PSPS, and storm-ready transmission.
▶ Watch the briefingReplace aging poles, equipment, and assets to hold reliability as costs and severe weather keep rising.
▶ Watch the briefingUpgrade substation and infrastructure capacity to absorb new peak demand without overload or low-voltage violations.
▶ Watch the briefingSecure transformers, breakers, and long-lead materials to keep construction schedules and new generation on track.
▶ Watch the briefingAutomate and streamline the DER interconnection process to clear the application backlog and cut manual processing.
Re-engineer the distribution grid for two-way power flow as distributed generation adoption scales.
Move to bottom-up, DER-aware forecasting that accounts for solar, storage, EVs, and a nonlinear demand curve.
Give customers the tools and control they expect while keeping bills affordable through the energy transition.
Harden cybersecurity standards and secure architectures as operational and IT systems converge.
Build, attract, and retain the skilled workforce to deliver electrification at the pace and scale the grid demands.
The full definition of all ten challenges, the technology landscape, and the case for collective action. Per-challenge playbooks live inside InnovationWorks for members.
Each challenge is introduced and worked on camera. Monthly challenge sessions are recorded for members inside InnovationWorks, and program highlights live on AEIC's channel.
Walkthroughs of each challenge, the technology landscape, and live cohort working sessions are published to the member workspace as the program runs. AEIC members can sign in to watch the full library.
Member Portal AEIC on YouTubeAEIC's weekly podcast carries the same operating story to a wider audience: practical conversations on grid modernization with the utility leaders living it.
Grid Mod Pod Listen on SpotifyInnovationForce democratizes innovation with an AI-powered platform that fosters collaboration and accelerates time-to-decision. AEIC hosts the Grid Advancement Program on InnovationWorks, InnovationForce's secure, member-only collaboration space, purpose-built for the energy industry.
Backed by Harvard Business School innovation expert Dr. Linda Hill and co-developed by utility veterans at PG&E, InnovationWorks helps utility teams escape pilot purgatory and move from challenge to scaled solution faster. The partnership pairs InnovationForce's platform, led by CEO and founder Kim Getgen, with AEIC's convening power across the industry's most senior operators.
The cross-cutting operational arm the program runs inside.
The shared data foundation grid modernization decisions rest on.
The forecasting work behind Challenge 07, run as its own cohort.
Secure your team's place in the Grid Advancement Program. One utility membership opens this program and every AEIC committee and program to your whole organization.
Enroll your team See membership See the work