By Feniosky A. Peña-Mora, Sc.D., P.E., NAS, CCM, F.CIOB, NAC, Dist.M.ASCE
ASCE recently released the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the nation’s most frequently cited infrastructure report. This comprehensive assessment is released every four years to assign letter grades to 18 infrastructure categories based on eight key criteria: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation.
Record federal investments in these categories in recent years are partly why the cumulative grade assigned to the nation’s infrastructure was a C in the report, the highest mark our infrastructure has received from the report card since it began in 1998. Eight of the 18 categories showed improved grades compared to the 2021 report.
However, as an educator, I believe that getting a C is not something to be proud of, particularly when some of our categories are falling behind. The energy category was one of two with a grade that dropped. This category assessed, for the first time, energy generation infrastructure in addition to transmission and distribution systems. Energy received a D+ after receiving a C- in 2021.
Energy demands are skyrocketing as we evolve into an increasingly electric-dependent world and data centers expand nationwide. A large data center consumes as much energy as 80,000 homes, and demand for these facilities is rising by 10% each year. Although solar and wind are generating more energy than ever before due to financial incentives that prioritize these sources, retiring coal plants and reducing investment in natural gas are merely offsetting the nation’s total energy generation at a time when demand is rising rapidly.
The collective energy ecosystem needs to work together to expand its capacities and meet current and future needs, which will require a diverse network of sources.
We must invest in expanding our energy generation and simplify the process of bringing the sources online. New generation or storage projects submit interconnection requests to be added to the grid, which can take an average of 35 months to complete. Interconnection queue backlogs have increased nearly eightfold in the past decade and by 30% in 2023 alone.
Despite these challenges, the energy sector has demonstrated the power of taking swift action to reach solutions.
For example, Winter Storm Elliott in 2022 disrupted energy service across the Mid-Atlantic, but thanks to interregional transmission systems, customers under the PJM Interconnection regional transmission organization reported forced outages of only 24% of its total capacity due to contributions from a neighboring electric grid operator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. This prevented a catastrophe.
Federal investments include $1.3 billion to construct three major interregional lines across six states to help increase redundancy.
Further addressing resilience, utilities spent nearly $12 billion undergrounding power lines in 2023 to prevent them from being impacted by winds, precipitation, or extreme temperatures. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $73 billion to modernize the grid, including hardening measures like fire-resistant technologies and more durable poles. Smart grids also address potential risks in real time, helping providers predict problems before they occur.
We are increasingly dependent on a thriving energy network, and the 2025 report card highlights areas of concern. Still, the report also addresses reasons for optimism, indicating that we are on a path to solving some of the major issues seen within the sector. Through regular inspections, streamlined regulatory processes, and sustained investment, we can position ourselves at the forefront of securing America’s energy future and ensuring continued prosperity.
Feniosky A. Peña-Mora, Sc.D., P.E., NAS, CCM, F.CIOB, NAC, Dist.M.ASCE, is the executive president for research and dean of engineering and sciences at Tec Monterrey in Mexico. He is the 2024-25 ASCE president.
This article first appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Civil Engineering.
